Sleight of Hand
by Incatnito
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems...
1. Default Chapter

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church, VA  
1310 Local  
  
Mac closed another file folder and sat back with a sigh. Thank God it was Friday and this week would finally be over. It looked like Bud had gotten through his DOD without any serious damage. She had hated her part in it but, fortunately, Bud had understood the difference between friendship and duty. And she felt sorry for young seaman on the John Cooper that she had prosecuted in the Article 32. Not so sorry as to let him off the hook, of course. Rath had blithely cut corners and outright ignored safety regulations until they had literally blown up in his face. He was lucky he hadn't killed anyone; but still, he was just a kid. She was grateful she wouldn't be handling the court-martial.   
  
Well, Mac mused, at least she got to spend some 'quality' time with Harm. That Squid - he was at his most passionate when he didn't have a legal leg to stand on. What was that saying? 'When the facts are against you, argue the law. When the law is against you, pound on the table and yell like hell.' For a moment, she thought his playing the emotion card during his closing might actually get the young man off. Rabb was good, no doubt about it. "Truth, Justice and the American Way. I wonder if he's wearing a Superman suit under that uniform of his? ... Hmmm, now there's a visual..." Mac chuckled quietly to herself.  
  
"So counselor, is that a Thank-God-Its-Friday smile or did you just discover a bare spot on your desk?" The amused voice of her favorite aviator cut into her thoughts. Mac looked up to see a relaxed Harmon Rabb leaning against her doorframe with his arms folded across his chest.  
  
"Actually, Mr. Rabb, this is the smile of a Chief of Staff who has just dumped her entire caseload on a certain Squid." She smiled sweetly at him.  
  
With a look of mock horror, Harm solemnly intoned, "Oh my, poor Sturgis..."  
  
Laughing, Mac waved him into a chair. "Big plans this weekend, Sailor?"  
  
"Nah, Sturgis invited Bud and I over to watch the basketball game tonight." Harm grinned, "Boys Night Out. How about you?"  
  
"Tonight, nothing more strenuous than a bubblebath, a box of chocolate and a good book. If the weather stays this nice tomorrow, I thought I'd put the top down on the 'vette and take a drive through the countryside."  
  
"Want some company?" The words were out before Harm had a chance to think about it. He tried to look nonchalant while watching Mac somewhat anxiously.  
  
Mac raised both eyebrows before her eyes took on a mischievous gleam. "Are you talking about the bubblebath or the drive?"  
  
For a split second Harm sat perfectly still, then leaned forward twirling an imaginary mustache and waggling his eyebrows suggestively, "My dear Colonel... ," he purred in a truly horrendous French accent. The rest of Harm's reply was lost when Tiner knocked on the doorframe and stuck his head in the office. "Colonel, the Admiral would like to see you as soon as possible."  
  
"Thank you, Tiner." Mac groaned inwardly and looked wryly at Harm. "Why isn't the Admiral asking for you on a Friday afternoon?"  
  
Harm placed a hand on his chest and proclaimed sonorously, "It is because, in my heart, I am pure..."  
  
Mac rolled her eyes, "Give me a break. Why do I have this sinking feeling that my plans are about to change?"  
  
Harm smiled sympathetically as he stood up, "Hey, if you need help just yell." He followed her out and watched her walk over to the Admiral's office. Grinning to himself, he headed back to his office - the weekend was looking up.  
  
Admiral Chegwidden's Office  
1317 Local  
  
After hearing 'Enter', Mac walked in and came to attention in front of the Admiral's desk. "Colonel MacKenzie, reporting as ordered sir."  
  
"Have a seat, Colonel." Admiral Chegwidden said as he shuffled through some papers on his desk. Finishing, he laced his fingers together and regarded his Chief of Staff for a moment. Mac waited patiently, the Admiral excelled at getting right to the point. "Colonel, are you acquainted with a Petty Officer Daniel Lattimer?"  
  
"No sir, I don't believe so." Mac looked slightly puzzled.  
  
"Well, apparently, he knows you. He's been arrested for drug possession with intent to distribute. He is refusing to talk to anyone except you." AJ sighed. "He is... was... Admiral Jacobs' yeoman."  
  
Mac's surprise showed. "Admiral Charles Jacobs of Naval Intelligence, sir?"  
  
"That's the one," AJ replied, "Lattimer is currently being held at the brig in Quantico. Charlie's anxious to get this cleared up, one way or the other. So... the sooner you get started, Colonel, the better."  
  
"Aye aye, sir." Mac came to attention and at the Admiral's dismissal, pivoted smartly and left his office. "Damn," Mac thought to herself as she hurried back to her office to gather her things. Almost an hour drive to Quantico plus a couple of hours to interview Lattimer (that name still didn't ring any bells), then another hour or so to come back and start sorting through her notes. Well, maybe after she organized things she would just take the whole mess home. That way, at least, she would still get her bubblebath and box of chocolate. Continuing that line of thought brought her back to the earlier conversation with Harm. She smiled, she'd almost had him for a minute before he had countered with his lecherous Frenchman imitation. God, that was the worst accent...  
  
"If you're smiling, I guess your plans didn't take too bad a hit." Harm stood by her door, looking in.  
  
"More like augmented," Mac said as she closed her briefcase and glanced around the office. "I get a preview of this weekend's drive with a trip down to Quantico and back."  
  
"Anything serious? I could rearrange my afternoon schedule if you think you'd like some backup." Harm offered. He and Mac had always worked well together and after this past disastrous year, he welcomed opportunities to get their friendship back on track.  
  
"I don't think so, but thanks anyway. It's an alleged drug-dealing petty officer who apparently thinks I'm SuperLawyer. He won't talk to anyone else." Mac grabbed her cover and purse and headed out the door. "I'll give you a call tomorrow, if you're still interested," she said as she headed for the elevators. "You WERE talking about the drive, weren't you?" She laughed lightly, one eyebrow quirked. The elevator doors closed, blocking her view of a slightly bemused but smiling Harmon Rabb.  
  
"You're looking smug, Commander." Harm turned to find Sturgis behind him.  
  
"Why not?" Harm replied, "I'll be caught up with my paperwork in another couple hours. I've got the weekend off. By the end of tonight, I'll be twenty bucks richer and now it looks like I've got plans with Mac tomorrow."  
  
"You asked her for a date?" Sturgis asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.  
  
"Uhhh, no, not exactly. She mentioned taking her 'vette for a drive through the countryside and I sort of invited myself along. She didn't say no." Harm added, a little defensively.  
  
"I see." Sturgis smiled and started back to his office. Midway, he stopped and turned around, "What do you mean you'll be twenty bucks richer?"  
  
"That's what you're going to owe me when Kansas kicks butt tonight," Harm grinned at his friend.  
  
Quantico Brig  
1427 Local  
  
Mac turned away from the window as the guard brought PO Lattimer in. "Thank you, Corporal. Please wait outside." She waited until he had stepped out before turning to Lattimer. "Well, Petty Officer, let's hear your side of the story. And then perhaps, you can tell me why I was the only JAG you would talk with."  
  
"It's not what it looks like, Colonel MacKenzie!" PO Lattimer blurted. "I was set up!"  
  
Mac contained the urge to sigh. "Petty Officer, according to the arrest report, they found crystal meth in your locker and small bag of amphetamines taped to the back of one of your desk drawers."  
  
"Honest, Ma'am. I don't do drugs and I don't deal." Lattimer glanced around the room and lowered his voice. "I don't know who to trust anymore, Colonel, that's why I asked for you. I saw you on CourtTV last year. I know you're only interested in the truth."  
  
Mac's face kept its calm facade while she silently cursed that miserable TV show and the SecNav who had gotten her into it. "Exactly what truth are we talking about?"  
  
"I've been Admiral Jacobs' yeoman for almost two years," Lattimer began. "About 7 months ago, I was reorganizing data on the computer when I came across an odd file. Well, actually it was a partial file, like there had been a system glitch and a copy was generated without someone realizing it."  
  
"Lattimer," Mac interrupted, "Is there a point in here somewhere and what does this have to do with the drugs?"  
  
PO Lattimer flushed, "Ma'am, the thing is I'm kind of a computer geek and this file made me curious. I started trying to reconstruct it in my spare time. ...Have you ever heard of 'Archangel'?"   
  
Mac shook her head, "Is there some reason I would?"  
  
"Well, no, but neither had I. Colonel, almost everything that goes on in Naval Intelligence is cleared through Admiral Jacobs and comes across my desk. Not details or anything, mostly overviews and general memorandum. 'Archangel' had been going on for a while and apparently not within channels. Once I had figured out what to look for, I started to... uh..."  
  
"Snoop?"  
  
PO Lattimer winced and if possible, looked even more nervous. "Yes Ma'am." He paused for second and then said in a rush, "Ma'am, did you know that Admiral Jacobs hates people of Arabic descent and especially the Palestinians?"  
  
"That's enough!" Mac was on her feet and leaning over the table towards the Petty Officer. Coldly furious, she continued in a deadly quiet tone, "You called me down here so you could accuse a senior officer, a highly decorated, widely respected, senior officer of being a bigot? Do you somehow imagine that this would mitigate the drug charges? Or are you going to threaten to make this public in order to gain leverage? Either way, you've picked the wrong attorney!"  
  
"No, Colonel! Please, you've got to listen. Someone else has know, has to stop them. They know I know, they're going to kill me!"  
  
It was the desperate fear on the Petty Officer's face that made Mac slowly sit back down. "Go on."  
  
"Ma'am, 'Archangel' is not only a covert operation but also a network. Admiral Jacobs is part of it, but there's more and they're scattered across the services and the government agencies. They think the only way to stabilize the Middle East is for the United States to control it and the first step is the eradication of the Palestinians. They're trying to manipulate the Israelis into doing it for them. Every time a peace initiative looks like it might have a chance, they sabotage it. That ship the Israelis grabbed that was filled with weapons? That wasn't Arafat, it was 'Archangel'."  
  
"Lattimer, no one's going to believe this without some sort of evidence. I'm not sure I believe it." Mac stared at the Petty Officer. "You're telling me this Archangel network has people throughout the intelligence community, as well as the military? And they're out to overthrow the Middle East? Can you prove any of this?"  
  
"I can't prove everything, but I've found enough files to substantiate a lot of what I told you. It's all copied on a CD that I've hidden." Lattimer wiped a nervous hand across his face. "Last week, I made a mistake. I mentioned an incident in front of Admiral Jacobs that I should have had no way of knowing. He didn't react and I thought, maybe, he didn't realize what I'd said. Three days ago, I became aware I was being followed. I got really scared, I figured that at some point soon I was going to have a 'lethal' accident. So, I contacted a guy I knew from college and bought the drugs. Then I paid him extra to call in an anonymous tip to the military police. They showed up yesterday, found the drugs and arrested me. The Admiral stood and watched the whole thing and then went back in his office. He never said a word."  
  
Disbelief washed across Mac's face. "Now you're telling me you set yourself up? These are felony charges, Petty Officer. They're not going to go away. What were you thinking? Do you realize that your credibility just went into the toilet? This story is already unbelievable and now it will look like a drugged-out sailor trying to shift attention away from himself and get revenge against a superior officer."  
  
"Oh God," Lattimer slumped down in the chair with his head in his hands. "I was terrified, I still am. I don't want to die. I didn't know where to go and then I thought if I was in the brig, at least I'd have guards around me." He looked up, "Please Ma'am, tell me you believe me. These people have to be stopped."  
  
"I don't know," Mac answered frankly. "I think I need to see evidence before I make any decisions. Where do I find this CD?"  
  
Lattimer looked undecided for a moment, then sighed. "I guess I can't ask for more at this point. There's a hardcover book about Napoleon Bonaparte in the bottom righthand drawer of my desk. Peel the paper away from the inside back cover, it's in there."  
  
Mac stood up and began gathering her notes. "Alright, Lattimer. I'll stop by your office on my way back to JAG. If anyone asks, I'll just say you asked me to bring you something to read and mentioned the book. Then I'll see about transferring you to the brig in DC. I would guess you'd rather I didn't try to get you released?"   
  
"No thank you, Ma'am," Lattimer said as Mac walked to the door to summon the guard. "Oh, and Colonel? Please be very careful." 


	2. Part 2

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
NIS  
1735 Local  
  
It took twenty minutes of "No-I'm-Not-An-Enemy-Spy" before Mac was (reluctantly, she thought) escorted to PO Lattimer's desk. She sat down for a minute to try and get feel for the Petty Officer and his work habits. Besides, it so obviously annoyed the arrogant, young Lieutenant who was accompanying her. Well, patience was a necessary skill for someone in Intelligence, he might as well start learning that now. After waiting another minute, she reached down and opened the righthand drawer. It contained a number of books and CDs, as well as a portable CD player. Deciding it would draw less attention, Mac grabbed three books, a handful of CDs and the player.  
  
"I don't think you're allowed to remove any of that," stated the Lieutenant, somewhat pompously. "This is a crime scene."  
  
"Why, thank you Lieutenant," Mac calmly replied in a tone she usually reserved for elderly dogs and small children, "But I believe the MPs have already secured the evidence."  
  
"Well, I'm pretty sure none of this is supposed to leave the building. It's a matter of security," the Lieutenant persisted with a slight edge to his voice. As far as he was concerned, there were too many chair-warming, paper-pushing, SOB lawyers in the service. He didn't think of them as being real military; they'd probably cry or wet their pants if they ever heard a shot fired in anger. No doubt they received their commissions based on the number of military personnel they railroaded into Leavenworth. Now here was this female, pseudo-Marine light bird taking up his valuable time.  
  
"I see," Mac gazed at the Lieutenant for a long moment. Then standing up, she continued, her voice becoming colder. "I presume that you'll be able to show me the regulation that states that an attorney can't collect a client's requested personal items after a crime scene is released? Then perhaps you can show me the policy change here at NIS that allows a junior officer to ignore military courtesy? I would hate to think that you took it upon yourself to be disrespectful. ... Although, I suppose I could excuse your behavior due to a lack of intelligence. So which is it, Lieutenant? Policy or stupidity?" By now, Mac was in the Lieutenant's face and he was braced at attention. "I'm waiting."  
  
"My apologies, Ma'am. No excuse." Tightly controlled anger was evident in the Lieutenant's face. 'Who the hell did SHE think she was?'   
  
"Lieutenant," Mac said, quietly, looking him in the eye, "If you're hoping for a long and successful career in Intelligence work, I would suggest you forego making snap judgments based on personal prejudices. It will someday get you, or those around you, killed. Then find a master chief who would be willing to teach you how to play poker. You're too easily and obviously provoked."  
  
"I agree completely, Colonel."  
  
Mac turned to find Admiral Jacobs standing in the entryway. She popped to attention, "Lt. Col. MacKenzie of the Judge Advocate General, sir."  
  
"As you were." Admiral Jacobs said, walking into the room. "Lieutenant, why don't you bring me a cup of coffee? Black, two sugars - take about five minutes. So, Colonel, I assume you've agreed to defend Danny... PO Lattimer? What are his chances?"  
  
"Yes sir." Mac replied. "Sir, at this point, I'm still putting all the facts together but I'd have to say, at the very least, he's probably out of the Navy."  
  
"Damn. I suppose he told you he's been my yeoman for the last two years? I have to admit, I didn't see this coming." The Admiral regarded Mac solemnly. "If you need me as a character witness, I'd be more than happy to help."  
  
"Thank you, sir. I still need to review all my notes before I formulate a strategy. Then, perhaps, we can arrange an interview at your convenience."  
  
"Just give me a day's notice, Colonel. So, was there a reason for your visit to NIS or did you just feel the need to put some arrogant young pup in his place?" The Admiral's craggy eyebrows lifted in amusement.  
  
Mac flushed slightly. "I apologize Admiral, if I overstepped my bounds. PO Lattimer asked me if I would bring him something to read. He said he kept some books in his desk. I just went ahead and grabbed the CDs and the player, too."  
  
Admiral Jacobs waved a hand in dismissal and smiled. "Everything you said was true, Colonel. Besides, hopefully it will do the young man good to realize that some... ahhh... 'legal weenies'... have teeth." He walked to the desk and glanced over his shoulder. "Are these the books?"  
  
"Yes sir." Mac carefully maintained her composure.  
  
The Admiral casually fanned through the pages of each book and looked at the CDs. "I've read the book on Napoleon. Fascinating, are you interested in military history?"  
  
"I lean more towards paleontology, sir." At the questioning look by the Admiral, Mac continued, "I grew up out west, not far from some fossil beds. I was hooked at an early age."  
  
At that moment, the Lieutenant returned with the Admiral's coffee. Thanking him, the Admiral turned back to Mac, "Tell Danny I'm thinking of him and give my regards to AJ, he tells me you're one of the best."  
  
"Thank you sir, I will." Mac popped to attention again, "Permission to leave, sir?"   
  
"Granted. Lieutenant, after you've escorted the Colonel to her car, come back up to my office."  
  
"Yes sir." Mac gathered all the items and followed a chastened Lieutenant out of the building.  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church, VA  
1850 Local  
  
Mac sat in her office and contemplated her notes. She had closed her door as soon as she had returned; it was her 'Do Not Disturb Without A Damn Good Reason' sign. She had given the whole matter a lot of thought on the drive back. After giving Lattimer the benefit of the doubt, she had decided that a healthy dose of paranoia would be a good thing. At the moment, all the notes and briefs on her desk and computer dealt only with the drug charges, everything else was back in her briefcase. Glancing out at the bullpen, she saw that it was nearly deserted. Harm and Bud were both already gone when she returned. They had actually left on time so they could get over to Sturgis' by tip-off. Mac smiled and picked up the note she had found attached to her computer screen. It was a cartoon of a 'vette zooming down the road and the words: 'Wish I was here.' Definitely Rabb's handiwork, she'd call him in the morning and roust him out of bed.  
  
Sighing, she returned her attention to her desk. "Stop stalling," Mac chided herself. She knew once she looked at the CD, there would be no turning back. Mac tried to suppress the uneasy feeling that she was already irrevocably caught up in this; her instincts were telling her that Lattimer was indeed telling the truth. Inadvertently, she scanned the bullpen again. 'Stop it!' Picking up the book, she opened it to the back and ran her hand down the inside cover. The Petty Officer had done a good job, there was no way to tell that a CD was secreted there. Staring at it for a moment longer, Mac came to a quick decision. She'd do this at home on her laptop. As long as she stayed off the internet, there was no way for anyone to hack into her files. Stuffing the book into her briefcase, she gathered everything else, left her office and nearly jumped out of her skin when the Admiral suddenly appeared.  
  
"Easy, Colonel," Admiral Chegwidden said with a slight smile, the SEAL in him was always pleased at successful ambushes, even the unintentional ones.  
  
"I thought you had left for the day, sir," Mac managed to get out. Her heart was beating wildly. 'Pull it together, Marine!'  
  
"No rest for the wicked," AJ wondered at the reaction that remark caused, then continued smoothly, giving his normally unflappable Chief of Staff time to recover, "How is the Petty Officer's case looking?" What in the world had her so flustered? Rabb had left hours ago...  
  
"Not that good at the moment, Admiral. It looks like the prosecution will have a pretty solid case." Mac replied in what she hoped was a normal tone.  
  
"Is everything all right, Mac?" AJ asked carefully. He didn't want to leap to any conclusions, not after his last brilliant attempt when he ran off her appointment and then accused her of matchmaking. She hadn't exactly dressed him down - Rank Hath Its Privileges - but he wasn't anxious to repeat his mistakes.  
  
"Fine, sir. It's been a long week, I'm tired and, apparently, a little jumpy." Mac said with a small smile. She couldn't quite bring herself to mention the bombshell PO Lattimer had dropped on her - not yet anyway, not without proof. 'For god's sake, MacKenzie, this is one of the few people you trust implicitly. Straighten up or he's going to think you belong in the psych ward at Bethesda.'  
  
"Then I assume you've decided to call it a day?"   
  
"Yes sir."  
  
They walked over to the elevator together. "You aren't planning to work through the weekend, are you? Or do I need to make that an order?" AJ said with an amused look on his face.  
  
"That won't be necessary, sir. Actually, Commander Rabb and I are planning to take a drive in the country if the weather holds." Mac winced mentally, 'Good move, now you're babbling to your CO about your personal life.'  
  
"I... see," AJ kept the laughter out of his voice with difficulty. He looked over at his Chief of Staff who was staring stoically at the elevator, apparently trying to make the doors open with willpower alone. Deciding to give her a break, he added, "Charlie... Admiral Jacobs called me this afternoon. You made quite an impression on him. He said if you ever got tired of being a 'legal weenie', he'd be happy to have you over with NIS." AJ glanced at the elevator as the doors opened and missed Mac visibly tensing at Admiral Jacobs' name.  
  
Forcing herself to relax, Mac replied, "That's flattering, sir, but I don't think I'm cut out for the cloak and dagger business." Stepping into the elevator, she turned and looked at the Admiral, "Good night, sir. I'll see you Monday."  
  
Walking across the parking lot, Mac got into her corvette and dumped everything in the passenger seat. She started the car and then sat there for a minute. That uneasy feeling was back, the same one she used to get in the desert just before a thunderstorm... or late on Friday nights when her father was due home. Shaking her head, she decided to make a few stops on the way home.  
  
Mac's Apartment  
Georgetown  
1940 Local  
  
Entering her apartment, Mac put her briefcase and various packages on her desk. Stepping into the kitchen, she stuck the Chinese take-out in the microwave and put the tea kettle on the stove to boil. Then stopping in the bedroom and getting out of her uniform, she pulled on some comfortable sweats and walked back to her desk. Opening her briefcase, Mac pulled out 'Napoleon Bonaparte' and placed it to the side. She started up her laptop and then removed the rest of the files. Hearing the kettle start to whistle, Mac grabbed the book and headed for the kitchen. She had decided to try to steam the back inside cover off. Holding it gingerly over the tea kettle, Mac smiled wryly. She had no idea if this would work - her only reference was that it always did in the movies. Hopefully, it wouldn't damage the disk (wouldn't that be perfect... ). Five minutes later, still somewhat amazed, she was holding the CD. It had been enclosed in a thin, vinyl envelope. With considerable trepidation, Mac walked over and sat down at her laptop. 


	3. Part 3

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
---------  
  
Mac's Apartment  
Georgetown  
2053 Local  
  
Leaning back in her chair, Mac rubbed her eyes. She had been going through the CD's contents for little over an hour (73 minutes, according to her internal clock) and still hadn't read everything. However, what she had read had confirmed Lattimer's story. The whole thing left her angry and terrified at the same time. 'Archangel' was pretty farflung and had enlisted the help of a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, as well as several Congressmen. Well, perhaps, 'blackmailed' was a better word than enlisted. The rest of the network was identified only by codenames. 'Gabriel' was the leader and judging from various bits and pieces, Mac was pretty sure Gabriel was actually Admiral Jacobs. It was the other codenames that bothered her. How could you conduct an investigation spanning the services and government agencies, not knowing if one of the investigators was part of 'Archangel'? And, God help them, what if Congress found out and wanted to get involved? She'd be a little old Marine before they made their first decision about seating arrangements! 'Okay, slow down MacKenzie. You're trying to climb onto the roof and you haven't put the walls up yet.'  
  
She'd copied the CD's contents onto her laptop and had already decided that the safest hiding place for the CD itself would probably be the book again. She also needed to organize the mountain of information into a recognizable form and finally, she needed to contact the two people she trusted most: Harm and the Admiral. Standing and stretching, Mac decided to take care of the CD first. Grabbing several of the packages she had purchased on the way home, she went into the kitchen. The problems, she thought, were threefold: First, to hide the CD where it wouldn't be found; Second, get it into the hands of someone she trusted without arousing suspicion; and finally, compose an innocent-sounding message that would cause that person to look for the CD should something happen to her and Lattimer. 'My, aren't we being dramatic.'  
  
Actually, the first two problems weren't that hard. Placing the CD back in its envelope and then back into its hiding place in the book, Mac carefully began re-gluing the inside cover paper. Finishing, she sat back and critically examined her work. The care she had taken both in removing the CD and replacing it paid off. Emperor Napoleon was once more keeping secrets. Going to the first package, she unwrapped another copy of the book. After exchanging dust covers, Mac put the new book in her briefcase. Then she pulled out the contents of the second package: silver wrapping paper, bows, a gift bag and card. Opening a volume of case law, she began scanning. Six minutes and 43 seconds later, Yes! She sat for a minute, thinking, then opened the original book and wrote on the inside front cover:   
  
'To Harm,   
Happy Anniversary of our first case together. Admiral Jacobs recommended this and I thought you might like it - thanks for being there. -- Mac P.S. Who would have thought the Montgomery case would have led to so much?'  
  
Looking over the message, Mac nodded to herself. That was innocuous enough. He wouldn't understand it at first but her Squid ('Her Squid?' Mac thought about that for a minute, then decided, 'Hell, yes, he's my Squid.') was nothing if not tenacious. Once he realized what Montgomery was about, he'd put two and two together.  
  
For good measure, Mac repeated the message on the gift card, wrapped the book, added a bow and placed it and the card in the gift bag. After straightening the kitchen, she picked up the bag and walked into the living room. She put it on the table next to the front door. 'That should do it, I hope - hidden in plain view.' Going back to her desk, Mac began organizing her notes. A short time later, she stared at the papers in exasperation, where was the page outlining Gabriel/Admiral Jacobs' probable involvement? Damnation, she was sure she had seen it! She went through the papers on the desk again, then searched her briefcase and finally checked the floor. Nothing. Mac sat for a moment and resisted the urge to throw something breakable against the wall. Damn it to hell, it was 2130 on a Friday and now she had to go back to the office. Well, there was no point wasting time whining, she thought as she stomped towards the bedroom. Pulling on some jeans and throwing a t-shirt under her sweatshirt, she stopped long enough to grab her license, JAG ID and car keys and headed out the door.  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church, VA  
2147 Local  
  
Gunnery Sergeant Rudy Walters looked up from the log in time to see the brunette come striding in the front doors. He smiled. He had to admit he hadn't been thrilled when he wound up assigned to guard lawyers, of all things, but it hadn't been as bad as he feared. For a bunch of squids, the officers were okay (most of them anyway). The head man himself was tough as an old boot. He'd also been leery of Col. MacKenzie, but gradually he had come around (he was a second-generation Marine and had grown up listening to his father rail about the Corps going to hell in a handbasket ever since they let women pretend to be Marines). The Colonel had a no-nonsense, squared-away attitude that met with the Gunny's approval. She didn't treat the enlisted like some sort of sub-species and she made a point of getting to know him and his security detail. He realized that as Chief of Staff, she considered it part of her duties, but he also got the feeling she occasionally preferred the company of Marines. She jokingly referred to it as 'the Navy blues' and would cadge a cup of coffee while listening to his overview of current security. Walters' good opinion was cemented over a couple of beers with Gunny Galindez after the latter's return from the Guadalcanal.  
  
"Good evening, Colonel. I didn't expect to see you until Monday."  
  
"That makes two of us, Gunny. How did you wind up on the late shift? Piss off the-powers-that-be?" Mac asked as she signed in on the log the Gunny had politely proffered.  
  
"Ma'am, I'm shocked. It is well known throughout the Corps that without the personal attention of the gunnery sergeants, chaos and calamity would ensue. I would humbly remind you that my sterling qualities are legendary and therefore, indispensable." Gunny Walters answered solemnly.  
  
Mac laughed, "I stand corrected, Gunnery Sergeant." She continued, "I just need to run up to my office and pick up a file that I forgot. I should be in and out of here in ten minutes."  
  
"Yes, Ma'am." The Gunny looked over his shoulder and crooked a finger at a PFC behind the CP desk. The young man hurried over and snapped to attention. "I'll have Rodreguiz accompany you."  
  
"That's not really necessary, but thank you, Gunny." Mac said and strode towards the elevators, trailed by the PFC.  
  
Stepping off on the Ops floor, Mac noticed the PFC scanning the corridor. As she started for the bullpen, she heard him say, "Excuse me, Colonel."  
  
"Yes, Rodreguiz?" Mac said as she turned back to face him.  
  
"Ma'am, I noticed that the stairwell door is ajar. Would it be all right if I went and checked it out?"  
  
"Of course, Private. If I don't see you in my office, I'll meet you here at the elevator." Mac watched him walk towards the stairs and then turned and entered the darkened bullpen. Deep in thought, she was in the doorway of her office before she realized her computer was on and a man in coveralls was sitting at her desk. Mac stopped in surprise and said the first thing that popped into her head, "What the hell are you doing?"  
  
Mac noted the startled look on the man's face almost as an afterthought. All her attention was focused on his hand coming up from below the desk as he swung towards her. It was gripping an automatic pistol with a black, bulky tube attached to the muzzle. 'Silencer,' Mac thought in an oddly detached way. Everything was happening so slowly, then the moment of shock passed and the adrenalin kicked in. 'MOVE!!' She threw herself sideways as the man fired. By the time he made it out of her office, Mac was crouched three desks away.  
  
Keeping a wary eye on him, Mac silently berated herself, "Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!" She kept her right hand firmly clamped on her left arm. She was pretty sure the bullet had gone right through - which didn't make the pain any less and her sleeve was slowly becoming soaked with blood. Damn, she'd forgotten how much this could hurt. 'Focus, Marine!' The man was cautiously continuing his search through the bullpen. Mac did her best to keep as many desks between them as possible. 'Where the hell was Rodreguiz?' She couldn't keep this up forever and she would need some sort of a weapon if she was forced to take this guy on. 'Never a howitzer when you want one...' Mac carefully watched her adversary while looking around the bullpen. 'This might work...'  
  
Waiting until he ducked into a side office to search, she maneuvered herself as close as she dared. He seemed to have developed a pattern to his search; her plan depended upon anticipating where he would go next. 'Yes! Three... two... one...' Mac yanked on a wire and sent a phone crashing to the floor behind him. As he spun towards the noise, she popped up from the other side and slammed a second phone into his head. Leaning against a desk, Mac looked down at the unconscious man. Carefully lowering herself to the floor, she picked up his gun. She was starting to get light-headed, definitely not a good sign. 'Where the hell was Rodreguiz?'  
  
Hearing a sound behind her, she spun towards this latest threat. Her vision blurred and she tried desperately to focus. Finally, her eyesight cleared enough to take in the uniform of a Marine corporal. He was standing stockstill, holding his hands up, palms out. Mac lowered the pistol, "Thank God, Corporal. I surprised this man in my office and he shot me." She glanced down as the man groaned, "Call Gunny Walters and get him..." She looked up in time to see the barrel of the Corporal's sidearm swinging towards her head.  
  
The Corporal stepped over her prone body and hauled the man unceremoniously to his feet. "You okay, Aiken?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Aiken held his head gingerly as he bent down and retrieved his pistol. Straightening up, he kicked Mac in the side. "Bitch!"  
  
The other man grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him roughly away. "We don't have time for that, you idiot! Did you find it?"  
  
"No. It's not on her computer and I didn't have the chance to finish searching her office. Why didn't you stop her before she got in here, hotshot?" Aiken hissed angrily.  
  
"Because I was taking care of her escort. Dammit, we're running out of time." He fished in his pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Tossing them to Aiken, he said, "Put those on her."  
  
"What for?"  
  
"Because she's already proved she can take you on one-handed," the Corporal retorted, sarcastically. "Do it. We don't have time to search anymore, so we'll ask her."  
  
"What makes you think she'll tell you anything?" Aiken demanded.  
  
"If she doesn't, I'll let you ask her."  
  
Gunny Walters checked his watch again and drummed his fingers on the desk. Corporal Meyers looked over at him, "Something wrong, Gunny?"  
  
"Maybe. Colonel MacKenzie said she'd be back down in ten. It's going on twenty." The Gunny rubbed his chin.  
  
"She probably just lost track of time," Meyers offered, he never wasted his time trying to figure out how an officer's mind worked.  
  
"That's probably the one thing that didn't happen," replied the Gunny. After a number of beers, Galindez had told him about the Colonel's particular talent. Walters was sure his leg was being pulled and, somewhat triumphantly, pointed out that she always wore a watch. Galindez had laughed and said it kept her from having to spend all her time explaining. Afterwards, Walters had kept a surreptitious eye on the Colonel long enough to discover that Victor had been telling the truth. He thought about it a moment longer and then got to his feet, "Corporal, come with me."  
  
Bypassing the elevator and main stairwell, Walters headed for a little-used service stairway. Seeing Meyers looking at him askance, he just said, "Humor me." Something wasn't right, he could feel it. Reaching the Ops floor, Walters motioned to the Corporal for silence and carefully opened the door. Looking down the corridor, he saw it was deserted. Quietly, they started down toward the main office. Almost there, Gunny put up his hand and stopped. He glanced back at Meyers and got a confirming nod. They could hear low voices, both male and neither sounded like Rodreguiz. Drawing their sidearms, Gunny gestured to Meyers to stay put and keep watch. Staying low to the floor, he crept cautiously to the bullpen entryway and peered in. Backing away, he quietly returned to Meyers. Putting his mouth close to the Corporal's ear, he said in almost inaudible tones, "Two male intruders: one dressed as a Marine guard, the other as maintenance. The Colonel's in a chair, bleeding like a stuck pig. Can't tell if she's conscious, and there's no sign of Rodreguiz. Get back to the CP and shut this building down. Notify the gate and call for reinforcements - tell them to come quietly, it's a hostage situation. Call for an ambulance and paramedics, then grab the corpsman on duty and whatever backup you can find and get the hell back up here."  
  
Gunny Walters waited until Meyers had disappeared into the stairway, then he turned and crept quietly back to the bullpen. Cautiously, he looked in again in time to watch the maintenance man grab the Colonel by the hair and slap her across the face. Clenching his jaw, Walters gripped his weapon a little tighter and waited. The fake Marine said something to the maintenance man, who reacted in an angry undertone. Seeing his chance, the Gunny moved quickly to one of the desks. When he saw the maintenance man start to point his pistol at the Colonel's head, Walters decided he had run out of time. Steadying his elbows on the desktop, he aimed his sidearm at them and barked, "Freeze!"  
  
The fake Marine whirled and fired, his shot going high over the Gunny's head. Walters returned fire, hitting the Marine twice in the chest and sending him crashing to the floor. Maintenance Man didn't waste any time. He ducked behind the Colonel, grabbed a handful of sweatshirt and hauled her backwards out of the chair to her feet. Using her as a shield, he shoved the pistol muzzle up under her jaw, "Drop your gun or I'll kill her!" Walters remained silent, his weapon still trained on the Maintenance Man. "I mean it! I'll kill her!"   
  
Finally, Walters spoke, "Fine. As soon as you do, I'm gonna blow your goddamn brains out."  
  
The Maintenance Man looked at him in disbelief. "Are you crazy?! She's the Chief of Staff!"  
  
"You think I care? Officers are a pain in the ass." Walters replied, taking careful aim. He smiled coldly, "I never pass up the chance to blow away some pissant white honky." He saw the Colonel's eyes upon him, she didn't look quite as dazed as she did a minute ago.   
  
Suddenly, her head lolled to one side and her knees buckled. Caught by surprise, Maintenance Man tightened his grip and tried to keep her upright. He was off-balance and when the Colonel suddenly reversed direction and threw herself backwards, they both crashed to floor. Walters was out from behind the desk and moving as they started to fall. He reached the man's side almost as soon as they landed, his foot immobilizing the gunhand and the muzzle of his sidearm a half-inch from the bridge of Maintenance Man's nose. "Just twitch," Walters said softly, "Give me a reason." He reached over with his free hand and picked up the pistol.  
  
"Gunny?" It was Meyers and the cavalry.  
  
"Over here, Corporal." Walters kept his attention focused on Maintenance Man until he felt Meyers come up behind him. "Take this piece of crap into custody and get the paramedics up here now." He waited until Meyers and one of the PFCs hauled Maintenance Man to his feet and cuffed him, then turned toward the Colonel. Corpsman Faust had gotten the handcuffs off her and was starting to administer first aid. He squatted down next to her. She was unconscious and looked like hell, blood was everywhere. Walters glanced up when Meyers came back to stand beside him. "Did you find Rodreguiz?"  
  
Meyers grimaced, "Yeah, he was in the main stairwell. Stabbed to death."  
  
"Son of a bitch." The commotion near the elevator told them that the paramedics had arrived. Walters stood up and he and Meyers stepped out of the way. "Is the rest of the building secure?" At Meyers' nod, he sighed and walked to a phone, "I need to call Admiral Chegwidden." 


	4. Part 4

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church, VA  
2248 Local  
  
AJ roared into the JAG parking lot, he had made the trip in record time. An ambulance was pulled up to the front entrance, its emergency lights flashing. He hurried to the building. What the hell was going on? A security breach at JAG? None of this made any sense, they didn't deal in sensitive material, they were just a bunch of damn lawyers! Now he had a member of the security detail dead and an injured Chief of Staff. What was Mac doing back at JAG at this time of night? He had more questions than answers, but by God, that was going to change!  
  
Gunny Walters rode down with the paramedics. They exited the elevator just as Admiral Chegwidden blew through the front doors. Watching personnel scatter out of his way, Walters almost smiled. It looked like Moses parting the Red Sea. Meeting halfway down the corridor, the Gunny started to come to attention only to be waved off by the Admiral.  
  
AJ changed direction and walked beside the gurney. He couldn't see a lot of Mac, but what he could see didn't look good. He turned his attention to a paramedic, "How is she? Where are you taking her?"  
  
"We've got her stabilized for now, sir. She's lost a lot of blood and has been in and out of consciousness. GW is closest, unless you'd rather we took her to Bethesda."  
  
"No, GW is fine," answered AJ. He and the Gunny followed them out to the ambulance and watched until it drove away. AJ turned and looked at Walters. "Gunny, I need to make some phone calls and then you and I need to talk."  
  
"Aye aye, sir. I'll wait for you at the CP." Gunny came to attention and at AJ's dismissal, turned and marched back down the hallway.  
  
AJ pulled out his cell phone and dialed. He listened to it ring and then heard the answering machine pick up. 'Damn.' After hearing the beep, he said, "Rabb, this is Admiral Chegwidden. It's 2250. There's been a security breach at JAG. Mac was injured, she's being taken to George Washington Medical Center. Call me on my cell phone." Hanging up, he dialed the next number.  
  
Harriet picked up on the second ring, "Roberts' residence. Oh, hello Admiral. No, Bud is at Commander Turner's. He and Commander Rabb are over watching the basketball game. Is everything all right, sir?" Harriet's hand flew to her mouth in disbelief, "Oh my God! What happened? Will she be okay, sir? Do you want me to call Bud? No sir, it's not a problem. Yes, sir. Thank you for calling, sir." Hanging up, Harriet sat and stared at the phone. This couldn't be happening. Pulling out the phone directory, she looked up a number and dialed.  
  
George Washington Medical Center  
2338 Local  
  
Harm burst through the Emergency Room doors with Sturgis close behind. Hurrying up to the front desk, he caught the attention of the receptionist and said, "I'm looking for a friend of mine. She was brought in a half hour ago or so. Her name is Lt. Col. Sarah MacKenzie." As the receptionist slowly scrolled down her computer screen, he shot a harried look at Sturgis.  
  
Exasperated, Harm was just about to say something to the receptionist when she looked up with a saccharine smile, "Found her. The multiple GSW, they've taken her up to surgery. It's on the sixth floor, use the elevators at the end of this hallway and then just follow the signs. There's a waiting room up there." As the two men hurried down the corridor, the receptionist leaned over the desk and admired the view.  
  
Arriving on the sixth floor, Harm quickly scanned the signs. He strode rapidly down the hallway, forcing the shorter Sturgis into a near-jog in order to keep up. Arriving at the station desk, he said to the nurse, "My name is Harmon Rabb. They told me downstairs that Sarah MacKenzie had been brought up here. Can you tell me if she's going to be okay?"  
  
The nurse picked up a chart, "Oh yes, she was brought up a little while ago. Dr. Mikos is handling the case, I'll page him so he can answer any questions. Are you family?"  
  
"No, we're friends. She doesn't have any immediate family in the area. I do hold her medical power of attorney, if that's any help." Harm replied.  
  
"Great," said the nurse, handing over a thick stack of papers attached to a clipboard. "We need you to fill out the paperwork. Just have a seat in the waiting room and I'll locate Dr. Mikos."  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Harm finally finished the forms. "Where was the doctor?" he thought irritably. Sturgis had taken to staring at a painting on the wall. Both looked up quickly when a small, round man in surgical scrubs walked into the waiting room. "Mr. Rabb?"  
  
"Yes." Harm surged to his feet, "Are you Dr. Mikos?" At the man's nod, Harm continued, "This is Sturgis Turner, another friend of Mac's. How is she? Will she be alright?"  
  
"Well, Mr. Rabb..." Dr. Mikos paused as three more people came hurrying around the corner.   
  
"Admiral, Bud, Harriet," Harm said as they stopped next to him, "This is Mac's doctor, Dr. Mikos."  
  
Dr. Mikos looked at Harm, "Is this everybody?" At Harm's affirmative, he continued, "As I was about to tell Mr. Rabb and Mr. Turner, Ms. MacKenzie is currently in fair but stable condition. She is suffering from two gunshot wounds, one through the upper arm and one in her side. She also has a mild concussion, several cracked ribs and numerous contusions and lacerations. I know it sounds like a lot, but none of the injuries themselves are life-threatening. Right now, we're trying to prevent the onset of shock and dealing with substantial blood loss. She was fortunate to have received such prompt treatment; if she'd gone into shock at the scene, we might not be having this conversation." Dr. Mikos stopped for a minute to give everyone a chance to digest the information.  
  
AJ cleared his throat, "Will she recover?"  
  
"Oh yes." Seeing the group visibly relax a bit, Dr. Mikos smiled, "Sorry, I wasn't trying to scare you. I just wanted to apprise you of the seriousness of the situation." He continued briskly, "We have Ms. MacKenzie scheduled for surgery at 1:45 this morning. By that time, she will have received several units of blood and her condition will be stable enough to permit surgery. We don't think the bullet wound in her side hit anything vital." Dr. Mikos paused and scanned the group, "I think you should all go home, rest and come back in the morning. She'll be in recovery right after the surgery, so you won't be able to see her until the morning anyway."  
  
"Thank you, Doctor." AJ said, forestalling Rabb's automatic protest. "That's probably a good idea."  
  
Dr. Mikos glanced at his watch, "I'm sorry, but I have to get back. If one of you will leave a number at the station desk, I'll call if there are any changes in Ms. MacKenzie's condition." He walked out of the waiting room.  
  
They stood for a moment in silence and then Sturgis asked, "Pardon me Admiral, but what the hell has been going on?"  
  
AJ swept his gaze across the group. They all looked concerned and worried; except for Rabb, he looked angry as well. "I wish I knew. I talked to Gunny Walters, he said Mac came in a little before 2200 and said she was going up to her office to retrieve a file she had forgotten. When she didn't come back down, he became concerned and went up to check. He discovered two intruders, they had Mac and she had already been shot at least once. He implemented the security Opplan and waited for backup. When things started to go south, he went in alone. Wound up killing one intruder and capturing the other. He had medical personnel standing by for the Colonel and then he called me."  
  
"I think the Doctor was right," the Admiral continued, "Everybody go home and we can meet back here in the morning." The Roberts and Sturgis nodded their assent and left the waiting room, murmuring quietly among themselves. AJ looked over at Rabb who was stubbornly keeping his place, "Commander, don't make me order you to leave."  
  
Harm stared back at the Admiral before there was an almost imperceptible slump to his shoulders. He stared at the floor for a moment and then looked up, "All right, sir. Let me give this to the station nurse." He lifted the clipboard with all the paperwork attached. Together they walked out of the waiting room, Harm dropped off the papers and they made their way to the elevators. The two men stood silently, waiting for the doors to open. Finally, Harm spoke, "You're going back to JAG tonight." It wasn't so much a question as a statement of fact. At AJ's nod, he continued, "Sir, I'd like to accompany you if I may. I need to do something, I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight anyway."  
  
AJ sighed, "Okay, Harm. On one condition: when I tell you to leave, you leave. Is that clear?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church, VA  
0240 Local  
  
AJ took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes. The amount of paperwork generated by an incident like this was astonishing. 'Incident.' He snorted in disgust. An 'incident' was denting a fender in a parking lot. He had a young man in his command who had been stabbed to death and Mac in the hospital. AJ had a guilty moment when he remembered the brief feeling of relief that things hadn't been reversed. Then there'd been the shock when they walked into the bullpen for the first time. There seemed to be blood everywhere... Hearing a knock, he looked up and saw Harm standing in the open doorway with a thick sheaf of papers in his hand. Motioning him in, AJ leaned back in his chair. Rabb looked like hell.   
  
At the Admiral's nod, Harm settled his tall frame into a chair. "I just got off the phone with GW, sir. Mac just came out of surgery. They're going to wait a couple of hours to make sure there are no complications; then they'll upgrade her condition and move her to a regular room. Visiting hours begin at 0800." His relief was evident.  
  
"Well, that's one good thing." AJ nodded toward the papers still in Harm's hand, "Where are we?"  
  
"You mean besides being up to our necks with every Tom, Dick and Harry from practically every news bureau in the area, sir?" Harm said dryly. The Admiral grunted in agreement. When they had arrived at JAG, there had been the expected police officers and detectives, as well as a surprising number of reporters. Apparently, even a whiff of possible terrorism brought them out in droves. They were milling about the parking lot, having met with an immovable object in the form of Gunny Walters. AJ had sent them packing, flatly stating that this was a military incident and the Navy's jurisdiction. JAG would investigate and then notify whomever they deemed appropriate if and when it became necessary. Harm gave a weary sigh, "Right now, we don't know what the intruders were looking for or if it pertains to a current or past investigation. A number of computers were on, including Mac's, so we don't know whose files they were after. We don't know if Mac was the target, or simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. According to the Gunny, they wasted valuable time in an apparent attempt to interrogate her. That could mean she was the target except that there was no way they would have known she was coming back in. Another possibility is that they thought as Chief of Staff, Mac would have the information they wanted. How they got in shows careful planning, which would suggest an ongoing investigation. It also suggests that these two did not act alone and because they were unsuccessful, it's possible there will be another attempt."   
  
Harm looked grim and concluded, "Whoever planned this took a helluva chance. He either has an incredible amount of confidence that his people won't rat him out, if caught; or, he's buried so far in the background, that they don't know he's involved. Whatever these people are after must be pretty big to justify the amount of risk they're willing to take."  
  
"So, basically, all we know is that two men breached security, killed one person and wounded another. We don't know why they did it, we don't know what they were after and we don't know who is involved." AJ said in frustration. He stood up, "Okay, that's it. We'll tackle this again in the morning. Go home."  
  
"But sir..."  
  
"Go home. Get some sleep and I'll meet you at GW later." AJ gave a small smile, "Then we can discuss the fine art of ducking with a certain Marine colonel."  
  
Harm grinned in spite of himself, "Marines don't duck, sir..."  
  
Mac's Apartment Building  
Georgetown  
0825 Local  
  
Bud followed his wife down the hallway to the office of the building superintendent. "Harriet, I don't know if this is such a good idea. I mean, shouldn't we have asked the Colonel first before going into her apartment?"  
  
"Bud," Harriet turned and looked at her husband, "We're not planning to ransack her place. I just want to throw together an overnight bag for her. She's going to need something to wear when they release her and until then she'll be much more comfortable with her own clothes and things." Harriet resumed her march to the office. Five minutes later, they were all on the way to Mac's apartment. The Super had tried to argue but Harriet had overcome every objection. Bud trailed along behind, once more amazed at his wife's ability to herd people in the direction she wanted them to go.  
  
When they arrived at Mac's door, the Super pulled out a large keyring. It took him a few moments to sort through it and then he reached over to unlock the door. He stopped and looked back at Bud and Harriet, "It's already open." 


	5. Part 5

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
Mac's Apartment Building  
Georgetown  
0840 Local  
  
Bud and Harriet looked at each other in consternation, then motioning Harriet and the Super back, Bud cautiously opened the door. Scanning the room quickly, he turned back to the Super and said quietly, "Call the police." Gesturing to Harriet to stay by the door, Bud carefully entered and began checking through the apartment. Harriet peeked in and gasped. The Colonel's normally neat home looked like a bomb had gone off inside. Furniture was overturned, cushions were ripped and shelves had been cleared. The floor was covered in a jumbled mess of papers, books and broken knickknacks. Bud came back to the door and looked at Harriet, "The whole apartment is like this. It doesn't look like vandalism, someone was searching for something."  
  
Harriet frowned, "This has to do with the security breach at JAG, doesn't it? Bud nodded and she continued, "That means they were after the Colonel, but how could they know she was going to be at JAG right then?"  
  
Bud thought for a moment, "Maybe both happened at the same time and whoever did this was expecting to find the Colonel here, not at JAG." He shivered, "They could have easily killed her here, no one would have known for hours." He left unspoken the thought that if they were looking for something, they might not have killed her quickly. This whole thing was crazy.  
  
"We need to call Admiral Chegwidden," Harriet stated firmly. Bud pulled out his cellphone.  
  
George Washington Medical Center  
Mac's Room  
0855 Local  
  
Harm sat slumped in a chair, chin in hand, lost in thought. He had arrived a few minutes before 0800 and talked to the attending physician about Mac's condition. Dr. Allen had pulled her chart, grunted as he read over it and told Harm not to expect much, Ms. MacKenzie would probably sleep most of the day. So far, he'd been right on the money. Harm looked over at the sleeping Marine; he knew Mac probably looked better than she did when they brought her in and he was halfway grateful he hadn't seen her before. 'I would've gone straight to the brig and tried to pull the arms and legs off the SOB who did this to her.' The intensity of his feelings surprised him and he automatically avoided analyzing the reason behind it. Instead he concentrated on uncovering the reason for the break-in, something big had found its way to JAG and he was going to find it.  
  
"Harm...?"  
  
Harm's head snapped up to find a bleary-eyed Sarah MacKenzie looking at him. He got up and moved to the side of her bed. "Hey, Marine."  
  
"Where...?" Mac tried to fight the lethargy that seemed to be overwhelming her.  
  
"You're going to be fine, Mac." Harm said reassuringly, he had captured her hand while leaning over the guardrail. "You're at George Washington Med Center. Gunny Walters got the guys that did this to you." He stopped speaking as her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep again.  
  
"How is she, Commander?" Harm turned to find the Admiral and Sturgis entering the room.  
  
"She was awake for a little while and pretty groggy, then she drifted off again," Harm replied. "The doctor said she'd probably sleep most of the day."  
  
The Admiral nodded and started to speak when his cellphone rang. "Excuse me, gentlemen." He turned back to the doorway and answered the phone, "Chegwidden... Yes, Mr. Roberts... I understand... What? When? Have you called the police? Alright, I'm on my way. Thank you, Bud." AJ turned around to find Harm and Sturgis staring at him. "Bud and Harriet decided to stop by the Colonel's place on the way here. Harriet wanted to put together an overnight bag for Mac. When they got there, they found the place ransacked. They're waiting for the police."  
  
Harm and Sturgis stood in shock for a moment, then Harm stepped forward and said, "Admiral, I'd like to... " He stopped and glanced back, clearly torn about what to do.   
  
Sturgis touched his shoulder and said, "I'll stay with Mac, Harm. Go ahead and go." He acknowledged Harm's grateful smile and watched the two men hurry from the room. Pulling the chair around so that he had a clear view of Mac and the door, Sturgis settled down to wait.  
  
Mac's Apartment  
Georgetown  
0938 Local  
  
The Admiral pulled into the apartment parking lot. After finding a space, he and Harm walked quickly to Mac's building. The ride over had been silent, both men were aware that this break-in confirmed that Sarah MacKenzie had somehow become a target.   
  
Bud Roberts looked up from his conversation with a DC detective and saw them enter the hallway. Excusing himself, he hurried over to the two men. "Admiral, Commander, I'm glad you're here. The police are just finishing up - they don't think there's much they can do. They dusted for prints and they want a list of everything that is missing. They said they'd let us know if anything turned up." Bud filled them in as they walked to the apartment.  
  
AJ and Harm entered Mac's apartment and stopped in shock. The place looked like it had been run through a blender. Harriet looked out from the doorway of the bedroom, "Admiral, Commander Rabb. Isn't this awful? Colonel MacKenzie is going to be so upset."  
  
For some reason he couldn't explain, this violation of Mac's home incensed Harm. He also knew, as Bud had, that if Sarah MacKenzie had been home when they broke in, she would have died here. "I will kill the people who did this." he said in a low, intense voice. He was perfectly serious.  
  
"Easy, Commander," AJ said. He knew Harm was ferocious in defense of his friends, and try as he might to deny it, it was especially true of a particular Marine Colonel. He waited until Rabb started to relax and turned to Bud, "Do you have any idea if anything is missing?"  
  
Bud shrugged helplessly, "Not really, sir. I don't see Colonel MacKenzie's laptop but I don't know if it's at her office or in her car."  
  
"I see," said the Admiral. He stood for a minute, looking around the room and then shrugged out of his jacket. "Let's see if we can get this place squared away. It will be easier to see if something is gone." He glanced over to see three sets of eyes on him, "What? Do you think my place magically cleans itself?"   
  
Harriet took charge of the bedroom, leaving the three men to deal with the rest. "I think it will go faster if we put everything back in place that isn't broken and sort the rest into piles. Once Mac is home, she can decide what she wants to do." The Admiral put action to words, turning a table upright.  
  
They worked steadily for an hour and a half when Harriet reappeared with an overnight bag in hand. "Sir, I've got the bedroom straightened." She hefted the bag, "And I've put together some things for the Colonel. Would it be all right if Bud and I ran up to the hospital? We told the sitter we'd be back by one o'clock."  
  
"Harriet, it's not really necessary to ask," AJ said with a smile, "This isn't JAG. Go see Mac, I'm sure she'll be grateful for all you both have done." After the Roberts left, he looked over at Harm. "I think it's time for a break."   
  
They sat down on the couch. Harm slouched forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He looked over at AJ who was leaning back with his legs stretched out. "Do you think they found what they were searching for, sir?"  
  
"I wish I knew, Harm." AJ replied. "You're worried that Mac might still be in danger." It wasn't really a question. At Harm's abrupt nod, he continued, "She'll be transferred to Bethesda tomorrow morning. I'll be assigning a couple of Marine sentries to her room when she gets there. Unfortunately, GW won't allow me to post guards there." AJ held up a hand to forestall Harm's response, "So what I've done is line up a number of 'visitors'. It's not 24/7, but it's the best we can do. The hospital security has also been alerted. We just need to get to 0900 tomorrow, when they move Mac."  
  
Harm sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "If it's all right with you, Admiral, I'd like to run by JAG and start going through Mac's cases. The reason for all this has got to be there somewhere. I can stop at GW later this afternoon and check on her." He did his best to keep his tone neutral.  
  
AJ smothered a grin. "Sounds like a plan, Commander. I'll stay a little longer." He continued, "Check her office and car for her laptop and briefcase when you get there. I haven't seen either one. If they were after information from one of her cases, it makes sense that they would take those items." He gave a sigh of frustration. "The problem is that, off the top of my head, I can't think of any investigation that would merit this kind of effort."  
  
George Washington Medical Center  
Mac's Room  
1035 Local  
  
Sturgis sat and watched Mac sleep. Years of service with submarines had imbued him with a patience that still baffled Harm. He was introspective by nature and the two traits combined admirably in his study of human behavior. There wasn't much to do on a submarine when you weren't working, Sturgis had become a people-watcher.   
  
It had taken time, but he now considered Mac to be a friend. She was an interesting study. Intelligent, beautiful and a formidable litigator, she could wield her logic like a bulldozer; he'd been run over once or twice already. That she was well-liked and respected by the staff (most of them, he amended) bespoke her qualities as a leader. JAG HQ was a pleasant place to work and he knew from experience how quickly that could change if the staff were disgruntled and unhappy. Of course, Admiral Chegwidden set the tone for the office. The people at JAG considered themselves family with his blessing. Still, a good Chief of Staff acted as an extension of the CO; dealing with situations the way he would have handled them. It was an intuitive balancing act. Mac had that intuition - in spades. ...He still didn't know what to think about her 'psychic' abilities. (That she didn't either, made it a little easier to take; and obviously, this 'talent' was capricious at best.) Oh well, if that particular case hadn't been so serious, and he hadn't found himself in her line of fire, he might have found it amusing to watch Mac vacillate between wondering if she was loonytunes and her 'Marine-Psychic-Take-No-Prisoners' approach.  
  
Hearing a tap at the door, Sturgis looked up. It swung partway open and a large, barrel-chested man put his head in, "Commander Turner?"  
  
Nodding, Sturgis watched him enter the room and glance at Mac. He looked familiar, where had he seen this man? Although wearing civilian clothes, he was obviously military. Perhaps at JAG... wait, Walters. That was it - Gunny Walters. "Can I help you, Gunny?"  
  
"No sir." The Gunny hesitated a moment, "Sir, the Admiral was concerned about Colonel MacKenzie's safety. GW won't allow military guards to be posted, so he asked for volunteers to 'visit' the Colonel."  
  
"I see," Sturgis replied, smiling. "How long are these 'visits' going to be?"  
  
"About two hours each, sir." Gunny Walters said. He looked over at Mac for a moment before focusing again on Sturgis, "How is the Colonel, sir?"  
  
"Lousy." Both men turned at the soft sound of Sarah MacKenzie's voice.  
  
"Welcome back, Colonel," Sturgis said quietly, walking to the bedside. Walters followed and stood next to him. "You had some people worried."  
  
"Had me worried, too." Mac said tiredly. Her eyes closed briefly, then she looked at Gunny Walters, "Thank you."   
  
Sturgis swallowed his amusement, the Gunny actually looked embarrassed, "You're welcome, Ma'am."  
  
Mac managed a small smile, "Later, you and I will discuss your hostage techniques." Seemingly of their own accord, her eyelids drifted shut and she was asleep again. The two men turned away, Sturgis was surprised to see the Gunny looking faintly alarmed. Before he could question Walters, there came the soft voice again, "Gunny?"  
  
Walters turned back, "Yes Ma'am?"  
  
"Rodreguiz?"  
  
Walters hesitated, "He didn't make it, Ma'am."  
  
"Oh damn." With that, Mac once again succumbed to sleep.  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
1330 Local  
  
Harm placed another file folder in the stack in disgust. The 'Not Likely' pile just kept growing. He hadn't found Mac's laptop or briefcase, so it was probably a safe bet that the bad guys had them. This was incredibly frustrating. There had to be some reason for everything that had happened. He'd been through all her cases once already, nothing was jumping out. DOD, Willful Disobedience, Theft of Govt. Property, Fighting and Drug Possession were the main topics with a myriad of lesser charges rounding out Mac's caseload. He looked up and saw Sturgis walk into the bullpen. "Sturgis? Is Mac okay?" Harm asked anxiously, "I thought you were staying with her?"  
  
Sturgis raised a hand, "Relax Harm, Harriet is with her now. Bud left her at GW while he went to pick up little AJ and there's a Marine guard in the room, too." He continued, "She was awake again for a while and seemed to be a little more coherent."  
  
"Did she say anything about what happened? Does she know why?" Harm queried.  
  
"I didn't ask. Gunny Walters was there, Mac wanted to know about PFC Rodreguiz. He told her." Both men were silent for a minute, Harm knew Mac would be blaming herself for the PFC's death. Suddenly, Sturgis chuckled. Harm looked at him in surprise. Sturgis said, "I wonder exactly what happened up here. Mac thanked the Gunny for rescuing her and then said they'd discuss his 'hostage techniques' later. The man looked positively nervous."  
  
"Gunny Walters?" Harm asked incredulously, the Gunny looked like he chewed spikes and spit out nails.  
  
"Hard to believe, isn't it?" Sturgis smiled. Then, looking at the stacks of files in Mac's office, said, "Any luck?" At Harm's disgusted shake of his head, Sturgis continued musingly, "Do you suppose she keeps her office like this as a security measure? I don't see how anyone could find anything."  
  
"I know what you mean. I wouldn't be surprised to find a family of four somewhere under that mess." Harm laughed, and then looked over at Sturgis, "Thanks."  
  
"Any time." Sturgis grinned. "Why don't you take a break? Go over to GW and visit with Mac. She's going to be okay and we'll figure this whole thing out." He looked at his watch, "If you leave now, you'll probably get there at the same time as Bud. That way you can visit your godson, too."  
  
Harm threw up his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay. I don't need a house to fall on me. I'm going." He looked at Sturgis, "You will call me if you find anything?"  
  
"Yeah, sure. Go." Sturgis pointed imperiously out of the bullpen. Harm left. 


	6. Part 6

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
George Washington Medical Center  
Mac's Room  
1410 Local  
  
Harriet looked up from the magazine she'd been browsing through when the door started to open. She was expecting Bud at any time. After the two had arrived at GW and talked to Sturgis, they decided that Bud would go relieve the babysitter and come back with little AJ and Sturgis would head over to JAG. Gunny Walters had been replaced by Corporal Hanley, a tall, thin young man who hadn't been that interested in conversation. The Colonel continued to sleep, Harriet thought that was a good sign. Both she and Bud had been shocked by Mac's appearance, even though the doctor had described her condition to them earlier. Harriet and Bud were kind-hearted people, it was difficult to accept having a friend hurt.  
  
It wasn't Bud; instead, a man Harriet didn't recognize walked in. He was small and slightly built, with a mustache and receding hairline. He was wearing what Harriet had privately dubbed as the 'Bureaucratic BDUs': three-piece suit, button-down shirt, power tie and trenchcoat. He looked at Mac, then swept a cool, appraising eye over the other two occupants. Dismissing them as unimportant, he focused again on the Colonel, "You two will have to leave, I need to ask Colonel MacKenzie some questions."  
  
"No." Harriet's calm refusal masked a rising anger. She glanced over at the Corporal who was tensely eyeing the newcomer.  
  
The man regarded her with annoyance. He reached inside his coat (a move that brought Corporal Hanley to his feet), froze for a moment and slowly brought out a leather case. Flipping it open, he held it up and said, "I'm Inspector Peterson with NIS. I'm conducting an investigation and I need to ask Col. MacKenzie some questions. You will wait outside."  
  
Harriet put down the magazine and stood up, crossing her arms, "No."  
  
Clearly irritated, Peterson said, "I don't know who you think you are but you will either leave of your own free will or I will have security remove you."  
  
"I'm Lt. Sims of the Judge Advocate General and this is Corporal Hanley, Marine security detachment. OUR orders are not to leave Col. MacKenzie unattended and to prevent anyone from disturbing her until her doctor says its okay." Harriet had thrown in that last part, she'd be damned if she let this pompous little man pester the Colonel while she was recovering. Glaring at Peterson, Harriet noted Hanley's approving look in her peripheral vision, apparently he didn't like the little weasel either.  
  
They stood staring at each other for a long moment when the impasse was broken by the sound of Mac's somewhat groggy voice, "Harriet? What's going on?"  
  
Peterson immediately approached the bed. "I'm Inspector Peterson. I have some questions I need you to answer." Without waiting for a response, he plunged ahead, "Did you recognize either of the men who broke into the JAG HQ?"  
  
Mac squinted at him fuzzily, "No."  
  
"You'd never seen these men before?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Do you know what they were looking for?"  
  
"No."  
  
"You do know Daniel Lattimer, don't you?"  
  
"He's a client." Mac said, it was hard to concentrate, she felt like she'd been pounded flat. Who was this guy?  
  
"I understand you speak Russian and Arabic."  
  
"Farsi." Mac corrected him automatically. She was confused over the sudden change of subject. Looking over at Harriet, she saw her say something to a tall, lanky man. He turned and quietly left the room.  
  
"Colonel!" Startled, Mac jerked her head back towards the irritating little man and winced. Closing her eyes, she gritted her teeth and waited for the pain to subside. Who the hell was this guy?  
  
"Colonel!" Peterson waited impatiently until Mac managed to focus on him again. "You've made a number of trips to Russia and Iran, correct?" She just looked at him. He continued relentlessly, "You're good friends with a high-ranking KGB officer, a Major Sokol? You've dated him?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're Arabic, aren't you? Your grandmother was Iranian? And you're the niece of Matthew O'Hara, correct? The man who stole the Declaration of Independence for ransom?"  
  
"What?" Mac was bewildered by the abrupt changes in topics. Mark, Grandma, Uncle Matt? What was he talking about? If only her head would stop pounding...  
  
"Petty Officer Lattimer passed information on to you, didn't he?"  
  
"Well... yes, I'm his lawyer."  
  
"Not anymore." Peterson folded his arms across his chest and smiled nastily, "Apparently, he didn't think much of his chances. He committed suicide this morning in his cell at Quantico."  
  
"WHAT?" Mac shot upright, then clamped her jaws shut on the cry of pain that tried to escape. Her vision dimmed and she held herself rigid. The almost unbearably sharp pains were making it impossible to breathe or move. A panic-stricken little voice in her head was screaming, ohmygodohmygodohmygod... Vaguely, she could hear other voices - angry voices; but she was trapped in a gray world of pain and nothing else seemed to matter.  
  
George Washington Medical Center  
1400 Local  
  
Harm walked into the lobby and headed for the bank of elevators around the corner. There he spotted two familiar figures, "Bud!"  
  
Bud turned at the sound of Harm's voice and smiled, "Commander, are you just getting here too?" Little AJ had begun bouncing up and down in his father's arms and calling, "Unca Harm! Unca Harm!"  
  
"Hey shortstuff." Bud handed AJ over and Harm swung him up in the air, the little boy laughed delightedly. The elevator doors opened and they got on, AJ settled on Harm's hip. He looked up hopefully and said, "Airplane?"  
  
"Not right now, AJ. Unsafe flying conditions - not enough airspace." Harm looked up and matched Bud's fond smile while AJ pondered the situation. "Later," the little boy stated firmly and then squirmed around to be handed back to his father. Getting off at the sixth floor, they were almost to the station desk when they saw Dr. Mikos hurrying past them from another hallway. He was closely followed by a tall young man.   
  
Alarmed, Harm and Bud hastened to catch up. "Doctor! Is something wrong with Mac?", Harm asked .  
  
"That's what I'm going to find out," Dr. Mikos replied, not slackening his pace. "This young man came and got me, said I was needed."  
  
"Corporal Hanley, sir," he said to Harm's questioning look. "Lt. Sims sent me to bring the doctor, there's a NIS inspector in there giving the Colonel a hard time. He tried to make us leave but the Lieutenant refused to budge. He's acting like Colonel MacKenzie is some sort of criminal and she was really getting upset."  
  
That was all Harm needed to hear. Putting his long legs to good use, he and Corporal Hanley reached Mac's room ahead of the others. Hearing her distressed cry, Harm pushed into the room: he saw a small man roughly shoving Harriet away, but most of his attention was focused on Mac. She was sitting rigidly upright and white-faced. Pain was etched across her features and her breathing was coming in ragged, shallow gasps. Harm closed the distance to the NIS inspector even as his mind registered the scene. Wrapping two large hands in the man's lapels, Harm literally lifted Peterson off his feet and slammed him into the wall. The little man tried to regain his balance, all the while spluttering with rage. Harm picked him up and bounced him off the wall again and then jerked him back until they were eye to eye. Glaring at Peterson, his barely-controlled anger evident in his voice, Harm ground out each word, "I don't care who you are or who you work for; if I ever see you near Sarah MacKenzie again, I won't throw you against a wall, I'll throw you out a window." Harm emphasized each point with a hard shake while marching the inspector across the room. When he reached the doorway (Hanley had seen him coming and helpfully opened the door), Harm had one final say, "If she's hurt in any way because of you, you won't be able to find a rock big enough to hide under." Then he threw Peterson out of the room. Turning to the Corporal, Harm said, "Follow him, make sure he leaves the building." Hanley snapped to attention and hurried out.  
  
Harm turned back into the room, Harriet was now holding a wide-eyed AJ, Bud had a comforting arm around both. They were watching Dr. Mikos and Mac with worry. The doctor had cranked her bed upright and had managed to ease Mac back against the pillows. She still hadn't acknowledged anyone in the room. Dr. Mikos was on the phone, barking orders. Harm took the opportunity to move to the opposite side of Mac's bed. He reached over and covered her hand with his own only to have her grab it and hang on with a surprising amount of strength. He glanced up and saw Dr. Mikos watching him, one eyebrow raised. Both men turned when the door opened and a floor nurse walked in pushing a cart. Immediately, Dr. Mikos got to work. After administering pain medication and a muscle relaxant, he set up an oxygen tube and then fired questions at Harriet while waiting for the shots to take effect. Five minutes later, Mac gave a small sigh and went limp. Harm looked up in alarm and saw the doctor's reassuring smile. Dr. Mikos looked around the room, "If you will excuse me, I'd like to examine my patient."  
  
Reluctantly they filed into the hallway, Harm looked over at Harriet, "Are you all right? What the hell happened?" He listened with growing concern to Harriet's recounting of the entire episode. "What exactly did Peterson accuse her of?"  
  
"He didn't come right out and say anything but you could see where he was headed." Harriet said. "Then he told her one of her clients committed suicide, he almost sounded like he was gloating. That's when the Colonel reacted, I've never seen her like that." She was about to say more when Corporal Hanley walked up.  
  
"Well, Corporal?" Harm asked.  
  
"He's gone, sir." Hanley replied. "He was still cussing when he left the building. I stopped by hospital security and told them not to allow him anywhere near Colonel MacKenzie."  
  
Everyone stopped talking when Dr. Mikos stepped out of the room. "How is she?" Harm asked, trying to control his anxiety.  
  
"Ms. MacKenzie is asleep right now. I went ahead and sedated her. Because of the difficulty she was having breathing, I was concerned that she had somehow managed to puncture a lung. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. She did manage to tear some of the stitches in her side and combined with the effect of sudden movement on cracked ribs, made breathing extremely painful. I'm a little surprised that coming upright that quickly with a concussion didn't cause her to black out. Between the pain medication and the sedative, she'll probably to out of it for the next three to four hours. Her recovery will be a lot smoother if we can avoid these types of incidents." Dr. Mikos concluded wryly, looking at the small group. When the floor nurse came out of the room, he nodded to everyone and walked back up the hallway.  
  
Harm looked at the Roberts family, "Why don't you head on home? I'll stay with Mac until they kick me out. The Admiral said she's being moved to Bethesda tomorrow morning at 0900. I'm sure she'll be awake and feeling better by then and you can visit."  
  
Harriet shared a look with Bud. She felt a little guilty about leaving but the episode with Peterson had left her more rattled than she liked to admit. Harriet had been almost as agitated as Mac at the direction the questions were taking. At the Colonel's pain-filled cry, she had reacted without thinking, forcing herself between the NIS inspector and the bed. She could feel the bruises developing where Peterson had shoved her. A long soak in a warm tub was sounding very appealing. She saw Bud give a slight nod and turned back to the Commander, "Okay sir, I guess we'll see you in the morning at Bethesda."  
  
"All right, I'll see you then." Harm smiled fondly at his friends, and then giving into the impulse, enveloped Harriet in a quick hug. "Thank you," he said softly. Looking over at Bud, he grinned and said, "I hope you realize how lucky you are, Lieutenant."  
  
"Every day, sir," Bud said, taking the hand of a blushing Harriet. "We'll see you tomorrow." Adjusting his hold of AJ, he and Harriet headed home.  
  
Harm looked over at Hanley, together they went back into Mac's room and settled down.  
  
DC Brig  
1515 Local  
  
AJ walked up to the front desk and waited for the sergeant on duty to acknowledge his presence. After few minutes of paper rustling, the sergeant looked up and said politely, "May I help you?" AJ handed him his JAG ID and had the satisfaction of seeing the young man's eyes widen in alarm as he shot to his feet. "Excuse me sir, how can I help you?"  
  
"I'd like to see one of your prisoners, he would have been brought in last night." Admiral Chegwidden stated.  
  
"Yes sir. May I have his name, sir?" the sergeant said, busily sifting through a stack of papers.  
  
"I'm afraid I don't know, Sergeant. He had no ID and refused to speak to anyone. He would have been charged with criminal trespass, kidnap, assault and murder."  
  
"Yes sir." He skimmed down a page of entries and then looked up in surprise. "Sir, according to this, he was released into the custody of JAG at 0930 today."  
  
"What?!" AJ exclaimed. "That's impossible!"  
  
"I'm sorry sir, but that what the log says. Released to two officers assigned to the Naval JAG at 0930. They showed the proper ID."   
  
A captain, hearing the commotion, walked over to the front desk. "Is there a problem, Sergeant?"  
  
"Damn straight there is, Captain." AJ said heatedly. "Apparently, one of your prisoners has managed to escape."  
  
The captain looked at AJ coolly, "And you would be... "  
  
"Admiral AJ Chegwidden."  
  
The captain stiffened, "I beg your pardon, sir."  
  
AJ nodded and turned back to the sergeant. "Who were these officers?"  
  
The sergeant looked at the log, "Lt. Ramsay and Lt. Commander Quinn, sir."  
  
"There are no JAG officers by those names," AJ stated flatly.  
  
"Are you sure, sir?" the captain asked. "JAG's a big place..."  
  
AJ looked at him, "Captain, I am the JAG. I know who my officers are. I also know you let a dangerous criminal walk out of here with two impostors. There will be an investigation." With that, AJ pivoted and stalked out. Dammit, someone was two steps ahead of them on this and he still wasn't sure what 'this' was. 


	7. Part 7

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
Undisclosed Location  
1730 Local  
  
"Well?" The man sat back in the shadows. One could never be too careful.  
  
"No luck, she hasn't been left alone for any length of time. Wouldn't it be simpler to just kill her? We have her computer and files." The other man paced, his eyes constantly sweeping the area.  
  
"Simpler, yes. Smarter, no. Colonel MacKenzie's no fool. Once she realized what was going on, I'm sure she took precautions. We know Lattimer had to have provided her with some sort of proof, we need to find it."  
  
"Aren't we taking a chance? Eventually, MacKenzie's going to be coherent enough to tell someone what she's learned. That JAG officer, Commander Rabb, has been hovering. He's got a reputation for being a real bulldog when he sets his teeth into something."  
  
"I realize it's a risk, but I've taken steps to... ahhhh... 'neutralize' the situation. It should become a big enough diversion to draw off even our tenacious Cmdr. Rabb."  
  
"Peterson?"  
  
"Peterson."  
  
"Is he...?" the other man hesitated. If they had learned nothing else from those damned terrorists, it was to compartmentalize. He wasn't sure if he was stepping onto dangerous ground.  
  
The figure in the shadows chuckled, "No, Inspector Peterson is exactly as he seems. An abrasive, overzealous little man given to abuse of power. What he lacks in IQ, he makes up in ego. I merely sprinkled the bread crumbs and pointed him in the right direction."  
  
"I was hoping it was an act; otherwise, the man is an idiot." the other man growled, "A dangerous idiot. I think he's going to cause more problems than he's going to solve. ... I wish Rabb had thrown him out a window."  
  
"I've made my decision," replied the man, his voice considerably colder. "Everything will fall into place. We already corrected our 'problem' with Aiken. When he and that other fool, Franklin, screwed up at JAG, we lost our opportunity to wrap this up quickly. So now, we'll take the longer view. Everything will work out if we're patient - and don't panic." He looked at his watch, "I have to go."  
  
The other man waited five minutes and then left the building by a different exit. Walking to his car, he scanned the street in both directions before unlocking the door and getting in. Corporal Hanley took one more look around and drove off.  
  
Harm's Apartment  
North of Union Station  
2042 Local  
  
Harm put some soft jazz CDs into the stereo, adjusted the volume down low and went to the kitchen. Pulling a beer out of the fridge, he walked over to the couch and collapsed. He'd gotten home about ten minutes ago, he had stayed at GW until they threw him out. As the sedative wore off, Mac had become more and more restless. He wound up sitting by her bedside, talking quietly, holding one of her hands. She hadn't quite regained consciousness, but did relax enough to sleep more peacefully.  
  
He took a long pull of his beer. It was ironic, the one person he desperately wanted awake and talking was the one he was willing to defend from any and all comers so she could sleep and heal. He grimaced, one of his quiet conversations had been to Admiral Chegwidden on his cellphone. He told the Admiral about Peterson and what he had done. He'd been braced for an ass-chewing; instead, AJ told him about their mystery intruder's escape from the brig. Frustrated and worried, Harm got up and began to pace. Hospital security had been notified of the man's escape and the possibility of his coming after Mac. They had assured him (repeatedly, until the security chief had politely told him to go to hell) that they would stay on top of it. He just didn't like depending upon civilians for something like this - he wanted Marines. It seemed that every time he turned around, this nightmare got more convoluted. What, in God's name, could Sarah MacKenzie have stumbled into?  
  
Finishing the beer, Harm dropped back onto the couch and stared out the window. He really should just go to bed. He'd had maybe four hours of sleep in the last thirty-six. While he was physically tired, it was the emotional rollercoaster he'd been on that really exhausted him. Finally, he gave up. Try as he might, he couldn't make any sense out the entire situation. He'd sleep and get a fresh start in the morning, maybe by then, Mac would be awake and talking.  
  
George Washington Medical Center  
Mac's Room  
0240 Local  
  
Mac watched the security guard scan her room. She'd been awake for several hours, finally rid of that head-stuffed-with-cotton feeling. The return of clarity also brought the return of pain, but she could deal with that. She hated the loss of control that the drugs induced. She'd had enough of that during her alcohol-hazed teenage years.   
  
She'd been going over her options. Lattimer was dead. She knew it was murder and she had no proof. She'd been caught by surprise at the swiftness of the Archangel network's response to her involvement. It'd been luck and Gunny Walters' instincts that had kept her alive. It was also puzzling. Killing her at that point was stupid. They didn't know where Lattimer's evidence was or what arrangements she might have made as 'insurance'. Mulling it over, she decided it had been a spur-of-the-moment reaction to finding her at JAG. Peterson was another matter. His being a NIS inspector pointed toward Admiral Jacobs' involvement but he hadn't gone in the expected direction. Instead of zeroing in on Lattimer and what he might have given her, Peterson had started leaping to completely unrelated topics. Her family, her command of languages, her overseas assignments... Mac paused, "No... " Still, it made a certain sense, it wouldn't be hard to put the right spin on completely innocent facts. Actually, it was inspired. Once accused of espionage (especially in today's climate), any mention of Archangel would be discounted. Hell, they'd probably find a way to pin that on her too. She'd find herself in NIS custody, they'd get the information they wanted (she had no illusions about that) and then, no doubt, she too, would commit suicide. Harm would never believe it, of course. He'd keep pushing, even without evidence, and they'd probably arrange to have him hit by a bus.  
  
She needed to stay alive and she needed to stay away from her friends. She didn't want anyone getting caught in the crossfire, Rodreguiz was enough. Mac had the beginnings of a plan. She carefully thought it over. The tricky part would be trying to maintain some sort of contact with the Admiral and Harm... and not getting caught.  
  
Mac consulted her internal clock, the guard had been gone for seventeen minutes; they checked in her room every seventy-five minutes, give or take a few. Well, if she had learned nothing else from Archangel, it was 'no time like the present.' Carefully, she sat upright and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Closing her eyes, she let the dizziness wash over her and dissipate. Cautiously, Mac eased upright. She sat back down when her knees started to buckle. Gritting her teeth, she tried again. Eventually, she stood and leaning against the edge of the bed for support, took a few tentative steps. Reaching the foot of the bed, she sat down again. This was frustrating, it wouldn't be much of an escape if she wound up facedown in the hallway after the first ten feet. Try again. This time she made it to the head of the bed and leaned against the wall. Better. Turning, she located the overnight bag Harriet had brought. 'Bless her for that.' From there, Mac measured the distance to the bathroom and grimaced. Well, it always helps to have a goal. Pushing off the wall, she headed for the bag.  
  
George Washington Medical Center  
Mac's Room  
0353 Local  
  
Mac waited while the guard made his customary sweep and left, then waited another five minutes. She wasn't terribly impressed with the hospital security. Their rounds were made with predictable regularity. Gunny Walters would have randomized their routes, making it harder to guess where and when they'd be. 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Your chances of pulling this off aren't that great even knowing where they are.' Mac admonished herself. Throwing the covers off, she slowly made her way to the door and cautiously checked the hallway. Finding it clear, she began her escape.  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
0630 Local  
  
Harm strode through the bullpen on the way to his office. He had managed to sleep and was mildly surprised at how much better he felt. Today, he would talk to Mac and they would crack this case wide open. They'd uncover the people responsible for this nightmare and he'd come down on them like a ton of bricks. He relished the opportunity, if for no other reason than that they had screwed up his weekend with Mac. Harm grinned to himself, 'Now there was a capitol offense.' He sobered briefly, they'd also come damn close to killing her. For that, he would gladly rend them limb from limb. Entering his office, he dropped his cover on a file cabinet and put his briefcase on the desk. Deciding on a cup of coffee, he turned and almost collided with AJ. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't see you." Harm took in the Admiral's grim visage, "What's wrong? Oh god, is it Mac?"   
  
"GW just called. Mac is missing." AJ fought to keep his voice level. It had been a long time since he felt this angry.  
  
"Missing? Missing! How the hell did that happen?!" Harm's voice grew steadily in volume. "Goddammit, I can't believe this! Where was their security!? Son of a bitch, I KNEW I should have stayed!" In the back of his mind, a little voice was hissing, 'Idiot! You're yelling at a two-star!' but he just couldn't stop himself.  
  
"AS YOU WERE, COMMANDER!" AJ waited while Harm struggled to get himself under control.  
  
"I'm sorry, sir. No excuse." Harm braced at attention.  
  
The Admiral glared at his commander for another thirty seconds. It seemed far longer. Finally, he spoke, "I'm going over to GW now. I was going to suggest you accompany me. You still may, if you think you can control yourself. I will not have you going through there like the Wrath of God. Are we clear?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Fine. I'll meet you at the elevator in two minutes." AJ turned and stalked back to his office. He really couldn't blame Harm for his reaction. Dammit, he felt like putting his fist through something.  
  
George Washington Medical Center  
Security Office  
0705 Local  
  
The security chief eyed the two naval officers warily. "I don't know what to tell you. Ms. MacKenzie was asleep in her room at 4:00 this morning and at 5:00, she was gone. An open overnight bag was in the bathroom and hospital gown and ID were in the sink. We think she walked out on her own."  
  
"Why wasn't I notified at 5:00?" AJ kept his voice mild. Rabb stood silently behind, the tension fairly radiating off him.  
  
The chief shifted uncomfortably, "We wanted to search the hospital and grounds first and I needed to interview my guards. No one saw anything suspicious and we don't think any unauthorized people got into hospital. We think she just left." he repeated somewhat defiantly.  
  
AJ felt Rabb shift behind him and shot a warning glance over his shoulder. Turning back, he said, "It's been over two hours, what else have you done?"  
  
"What?" the security chief looked at him blankly.  
  
"Have you called the police?"  
  
"Why? Ms. MacKenzie's an adult and she wasn't a prisoner here. Leaving might have been stupid but it wasn't criminal and she has to be missing twenty-four hours before the police will even begin to look..." The chief's eyes widened suddenly and AJ barely got an arm up in time as Harm started to roar past.  
  
"You stupid son of a bitch!" Leaning into the Admiral's restraining arm, Harm was white-faced with anger. "She was in this damned place because someone tried to kill her. If anything happens to her because of your incompetence, I will tear off your leg and shove it so far up..."  
  
"STAND DOWN, COMMANDER!" AJ spun back to the security chief and pinned him with a glare, "You were supposed to be guarding her because you wouldn't let us do it. Do you want to explain how a woman who could barely sit up yesterday, managed to walk out of this hospital without any of your people seeing her? What the hell kind of security force do you have?" AJ stared at the sputtering chief for a moment longer and then, turning on his heel, marched out of the room.   
  
Harm stared at the man, and then he too, exited the office. AJ was waiting outside in the corridor. He started to apologize but the Admiral held up a hand, "Forget it, Harm. If you hadn't distracted me, I might have tried to throttle him myself." AJ shook his head, "You know the worst part? Even as I was asking him to explain, in the back of my mind, I was thinking, 'Yeah, that stubborn jarhead could have pulled it off.' " The Admiral stood for another moment, then looked at Harm and said, "Let's go."  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"Back to JAG. Contact Sturgis, Bud and Harriet and Clayton Webb and see if they would be willing to come in. We've been playing catch-up since this whole thing started and I'm damned tired of it. I want to know what's going on and who's involved and then... " AJ paused. Harm looked at him expectantly. AJ smiled ominously, "And then, we're gonna kick some ass."  
  
"Sir... Mac?"  
  
"Will probably contact us before we can find her. And we will find her, Commander. You can take that to the bank." 


	8. Part 8

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
Baylor Women's Shelter  
Washington, DC  
0640 Local  
  
Emma Fine glanced up at the wall clock, twenty more minutes and she could unlock the front doors. They used to be open all the time but as the neighborhood grew worse, the higher powers had decreed that the doors should be locked from midnight to seven for safety reasons. (This was the solution to the high cost of a security system.) Admittance was gained by ringing the doorbell. Emma thought the policy was another proof of bureaucratic stupidity run amuck. The criminal types would have no problem breaking down the doors; locking them merely exposed women who had already been victimized to greater risk.  
  
Emma returned her attention to the papers in front of her. Most of her colleagues hated the midnight to nine shift, she thought of it as the time to do the most good. A large percentage of women seeking shelter screwed up their courage in the wee hours of the morning. Emma liked being there for them. She was a large, amply padded woman on the 'comfortable' side of fifty. She had a nurturing nature and a formidable temper. Emma had successfully raised three sons, no small feat in today's world. One was a DC policeman, another a civil engineer and the youngest was deployed in the Indian Ocean. Although a kind and generous woman, she did not suffer fools or bullies. Her sons joked that the phrase 'If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.' was coined just for her. All this made her the ideal person for dealing with traumatized women and bureaucratic insanity.  
  
She looked up when the doorbell rang and quickly made her way to the entrance. A slender brunette was leaning against the doorjamb. Quickly, she unlocked the door, "Come in honey." The poor thing looked to be at the end of her rope. Her pale face provided vivid contrast to the bruises, Emma could see stitches peeking out from under her hair near the scalpline. Well, at least she'd had some medical care. Placing a hand carefully on the woman's back (some women were extremely gunshy about any physical contact, Emma played it by ear), she ushered her to a chair in the office. "My name is Emma. What shall I call you? Sit down child, before you fall down."   
  
Surprisingly, the woman stopped and leaned against the side of the chair. She smiled wanly at Emma, "Call me Sarah and I'm afraid if I sit down, I'm not going to be able to get up."  
  
Emma returned the smile, "Sarah, you don't look like you weigh more than a wet cat. If I have to, I'll just carry you and the chair to your room." She watched Sarah lower herself gingerly into the chair, noting that she kept her left arm tucked against her side. That could indicate either her arm or her side was injured or both, Emma would keep that in mind when she needed to move her.  
  
Once Sarah was settled as comfortably as she could manage, she looked at Emma with a bemused expression. "My room? Just like that? No interview? Isn't there paperwork that needs to filled out?"  
  
Emma laughed, "Honey, this is Washington. They built in a swamp because they knew the paperwork would keep 'em dry." She turned serious, "This is a shelter for abused and battered women - a safe haven while they recover and put their lives back together. We draw the line at ax murderers, but other than that, you're welcome here. We'll do the bare bones right now: We can just go with 'Sarah' for the name - we'll assign a case number to keep track of you in our records. You're not wanted by any law enforcement agency, are you?" Sarah shook her head. "Addicted to any drugs?"   
  
Sarah was silent for a moment and then said, "I'm a recovering alcoholic. My last drink was three and a half years ago."   
  
Emma made a note and continued on, apparently unfazed, "Anyone you would like us to contact?" Sarah hesitated and then shook her head again. "Okay, let's get you to bed. We have an RN who comes in the afternoon, you can see her then. I work from midnight to nine, so if you'd like, we can talk tomorrow."  
  
With Emma's help, Sarah got up and together, they walked slowly down a hallway. Three-quarters of the way down, Emma opened a door on the right, she could feel Sarah shaking, "Almost there, honey." A wallswitch turned on the overhead light. It revealed a small, sparsely furnished room with a tiny bath attached. "It's not much, but it's one of the few single rooms and you don't have to share a bath." Emma eased Sarah onto a chair next to the bed. "Hold on for just a second." She disappeared into the hallway. Sarah held herself upright, slouching caused too much pain. She was exhausted.  
  
Emma came back into the room with her arms full. "Okay, Sarah. I've got linens, towels, toiletries and some clothing for you. I guessed at the size, usually I'm not far off. Stay put while I change the sheets." In a short time, the bed was ready, Emma pulled out some pajamas and looked at Sarah, "Now it's your turn." Ten minutes later, Sarah was asleep. Emma turned out the light and quietly closed the door. She leaned against it for a moment in thought. Whoever or whatever Sarah was running from was serious. The hospital dressings on her arm and side attested to that. They needed to talk. The RN usually arrived at 1:00, she'd just be in the neighborhood and drop back in. Every now and then, she took someone under her wing - this time it would be Sarah. Emma looked at her watch 'damn!' and hurried back to unlock the front doors.  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
0810 Local  
  
They hadn't talked much on the drive back. AJ drove, right now it was the safest thing to do. He knew Rabb would eventually realize that this was their best chance of locating Mac. If they knew what she was running from, maybe they could guess where to look. At this point, AJ was fairly certain Mac had left on her own. He wouldn't have believed she could make it out of her room, much less the hospital. Hopefully, whoever was after her hadn't expected it either. AJ tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, he wished he had some of idea of what Mac's plan was. He knew she had one. It was Rabb who was the impulsive one.  
  
After arriving at JAG, AJ and Harm moved all Mac's current case files to the conference room. Bud and Harriet were on their way in, Sturgis said he would be in by 0900 and Webb... well, they had left a message. Harm had dug around in storage and found a large dry-erase easel. After setting it up, he and AJ were constructing a timeline, noting the facts they were sure of, it wasn't much.  
  
Hearing a knock, they turned to see Gunny Walters in the doorway. "Gunny?" AJ said.  
  
"Yes sir. I heard that you're trying to figure what happened to the Colonel. I'd like to help - if I may, sir." The Gunny was almost at attention.  
  
"I see," AJ glanced at Harm, "Since Commander Rabb and I only came to this decision an hour ago, might I ask how you found out?"  
  
Walters looked distinctly uncomfortable.  
  
"Gunny?"  
  
"Aye sir. I told my people to keep me informed of anything out of the ordinary. You and Commander Rabb being here this early on a Sunday without having the duty was unusual. I figured it had to do with the security breach." The Gunny paused, "And I stopped by the hospital at 0730. When I saw the Colonel's room empty, I went to see the security chief."  
  
AJ looked at him in alarm, "Gunny, I'm not going to have defend you on assault charges, am I?"  
  
"No sir!" Gunny Walters looked indignant. "I... 'counseled'... the chief on security methods." He waited a beat, and added smugly, "You may get a cleaning bill, though."  
  
A small strangled sound made them both turn. Harm had his back to them, his shoulders shaking. AJ looked back at the Gunny, trying desperately to maintain a serious demeanor, "All right, Gunny. Welcome aboard, why don't you bring up the logs for this last week?" he said briskly. "Umm, close the hatch on your way out, please."  
  
AJ stood silently until the door closed, then sat down and looked at Harm. They both burst out laughing, AJ wiped his eyes, "And I thought you were the loose cannon. I almost feel sorry for that imbecile. 'Counseled'... dear god." He chuckled again.  
  
They stopped when there was a knock on the door. Harm looked at AJ, "He couldn't have made it back that quickly."  
  
AJ shrugged and called, "Enter."  
  
Bud, Harriet and little AJ stood in the doorway. "Good morning, Admiral, Commander. We couldn't find a sitter on such short notice, I hope you don't mind. Has there been any word on the Colonel?" Bud got it all out in one breath.  
  
"Not a problem, Lieutenant. I appreciate the two of you giving up your weekend for this. And so far, no." AJ said and then continued, "The Commander and I are putting together a timeline with known facts; hopefully, it will show us a pattern and maybe we can figure out what's going on."   
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
1018 Local  
  
AJ looked around the table. "Is that everything we know so far?"  
  
He focused on Harriet, who had put a hand up. She asked, "How are we going to know if we've found anything, when we don't know exactly what it is we're looking for?"  
  
"Coincidences and anomalies." said Sturgis. Everyone looked at him.   
  
AJ said, "Excuse me?"  
  
"Something I learned during my first post as a JAG." Sturgis explained, "There was this retired FBI agent they had on contract to help with the investigations. He taught me a lot. He always said, 'When you don't know what you're looking for, look for the coincidences and anomalies. They'll point you in the right direction."  
  
Harm was standing at the easel, he had been writing the facts as they knew them. He took over the discussion, "Okay, I think we should use the security breach as our starting point. According to the Gunny, Mac arrived at 2147 and went up to her office with Rodreguiz. She said she'd forgotten a file. We're assuming the intruders arrived with the regular maintenance crew at 2100. The one dressed as a Marine probably had his uniform on under the coveralls." He paused, "Yes Gunny?"  
  
"I talked to the Marines at the gate and the one who admitted the maintenance crew that night. A second van arrived at the gate about 30 seconds after the first one passed through and those two came into the building about 45 seconds after the actual crew. They were out of breath and grousing about 'the guys' not waiting for them. They had the proper ID."  
  
AJ jumped in, "That was good timing, close enough to seem like part of the regular crew but far enough behind that the original crew didn't actually see them."  
  
Sturgis said, "Doesn't that show that this has something to do with an older investigation? It had to be planned in advance. What was in Mac's caseload prior to this week?"  
  
Bud shuffled through the file folders, "Ummm, Fighting, Willful Disobedience and Theft of Govt. Property were the major ones."  
  
"Theft of Govt. Property? Military arms?" Sturgis asked.  
  
"Uh, no. Shrubbery." Bud glanced up and saw several raised eyebrows around the table. "An enterprising corporal on ground maintenance duty decided to start a landscaping business on the side. He was pretty careful but he made the mistake of pilfering some hybrid rose bushes that a Colonel's wife had ordered. She didn't buy his 'lost in transit' story, her husband got involved and..."  
  
"He's history." Harm finished. Getting back to the original topic, he said, "No, I think this happened suddenly. I mean it looks planned but the execution was sloppy, like they were adapting as they went."  
  
"I don't know, Harm." Sturgis argued. "They had to have a company van and uniforms from the maintenance firm that's contracted here. You just don't pick that up on a moment's notice. This had to be planned in advance."  
  
"Not necessarily, sir," Bud said, "You could have had the research done earlier, like having a contingency plan on file. What if whoever did this has scenarios like this planned for a lot of different areas? They'd just have to pull the 'JAG Opplan' when they needed it. This is the kind of thing you'd expect from the..."  
  
"CIA." Clayton Webb said from the doorway. "This wasn't us. Mac's missing?"  
  
"Yeah, something or someone spooked her and she ran." Harm said in a frustrated tone, "Where have you been? Afghanistan?" Webb looked tired.  
  
"Among other places. Any ideas on what the hell happened? I got a brief overview from one of my people, but not a lot of details." Webb pulled out a chair and sat down with a sigh. Little AJ looked up from his drawing and smiled. Clayton returned it and then looked over when the Admiral cleared his throat somewhat ominously.  
  
"One of your people is keeping an eye on JAG, Webb?"  
  
"I have people keeping an eye on everything that goes on in Washington," Webb stated smugly.  
  
"Great," said Harm. "Find Mac."  
  
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Clay asked.  
  
"What the hell kind of question is that?" Harm snapped. "She should still be the hospital. We don't know what made her leave and the man that tried to kill her is running around loose. Of course, we need to find her."  
  
"Harm, she ran for a reason." Clay replied mildly, "I know her history. If anyone can successfully drop out of sight, it's Mac. Besides, think about it. Would she run to protect herself or the people she cared about?"  
  
That shut Harm up, as Clay knew it would. He turned to the Admiral, "There's a bigger problem brewing, Peterson."  
  
"The NIS inspector Harm threw out of Mac's room yesterday?" AJ said. "I've got a call in to Admiral Jacobs, I'm sure we'll be able to work things out."  
  
"I hadn't heard about that." Clay smiled at Harm, who looked embarrassed. "No, I'm talking about the fact that Peterson and the NIS just issued an indictment of espionage against the late Daniel Lattimer. And they've issued a warrant for Lt. Col. Sarah MacKenzie. Right now, they want her as a material witness. I heard Peterson tried to serve Mac this morning, he should be here shortly." Webb paused and looked around the room at everyone, "The scuttlebutt is that Peterson wants to charge Mac with espionage and treason. His argument is that she recruited the young and naive Mr. Lattimer and that she is and has been a card-carrying member of Al-Qaeda." Clay silently waited out the expected explosions of indignation and then raised his hand, "As far as he's concerned, Mac taking off was the final nail in the coffin."  
  
"That's the most ludicrous load... " AJ glanced at little AJ, "... of horse manure I've ever heard. I can't believe Charlie Jacobs is even thinking of going along with this idiot."  
  
"I found that interesting myself. Peterson has a reputation in the intelligence community as a nightlight in a halogen world. He's also arrogant, petty and vindictive." Webb commented.  
  
"Lattimer's the client who committed suicide in his cell, that's what Peterson told the Colonel when she reacted so violently." Harriet said. "She was defending him on espionage charges?"  
  
"Actually, no." Bud answered, "He was charged with drug possession with intent to distribute."  
  
"Sir?" Sturgis looked at the Admiral, "I know you like to spread the cases around, but wouldn't a drug possession case have been normally handled by Lt. Roberts or Lt. Singer?"  
  
"Ordinarily, yes, but Petty Officer Lattimer specifically asked for the Colonel and because he was Admiral Jacobs' yeoman, I granted the request as a favor to Charlie." The Admiral frowned, "That could be twisted to fit Peterson's scenario... Dammit! If Mac's a spy, then I'm Napoleon Bonaparte!" He glared at Bud who had snorted on his last comment, "Something amusing, Lieutenant?"  
  
Bud looked up wide-eyed, "Oh no, sir." He paused and then said, "I was just remembering that the Colonel has the biography of Napoleon. It had struck me as odd at the time and then you mentioned being Napoleon and..." He thought about what he had just said and hastened to explain, "I mean, I don't think it was odd Col. MacKenzie would read a book about Napoleon, it's just that most of her books are about dinosaurs and fossils, the Marine Corps, Cherokee Indians... " Bud slowly ran down while everyone looked at him.  
  
"Thank you, Lieutenant." AJ said with one eyebrow raised.  
  
He was about to say more when the intercom interrupted him. "Admiral, there's an Inspector Peterson from NIS here. He's insisting that he speak with you."   
  
AJ stood up and swept his gaze across the group, finally resting on Clayton Webb. "Here it comes."  
  
As he left the room, Sturgis murmured thoughtfully to himself, "Coincidences and anomalies..." 


	9. Part 9

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
1105 Local  
  
AJ had been considering the best way to handle Peterson ever since Webb had dropped the bombshell on them. Striding into his outer office, he brushed past the acerbic little man. Opening the door to his office, he glanced over his shoulder and barked, "Come with me. Close the door."  
  
As he walked around to his desk, AJ ran his hand across his phone's keypad, then turned to face the inspector as he hurried to catch up. Seeing Peterson take a deep breath and begin to speak, the Admiral leaned forward and bellowed, "Where the hell is my Chief of Staff?"  
  
In the conference room, heads snapped around as the Admiral's voice came clearly over the intercom. Sturgis started to reach over to turn it off, when Clay raised his hand, "I think the Admiral wanted us to hear this." They gathered around and listened.  
  
Taken aback, Peterson blinked, "How would I know that? I was just at the hospital... "  
  
"You were what? I thought it had been made clear Col. MacKenzie was not to be disturbed until her doctor approved." AJ was using his parade-ground voice, he could be easily heard in the bullpen. Standing right in front of him was deafening.  
  
Peterson tried desperately to take control of the conversation. "I have a warrant... "  
  
AJ cut him off, "What is NIS doing about the prisoner escape? That lunatic killed one of my Marines and wounded another."  
  
The inspector looked bewildered for a moment, "That's not my... " and then tried again, "Are you aware that MacKenzie is of Arabic descent?"  
  
"Of course, she is. How else would she have learned to speak Farsi so fluently? Damned convenient when she assisted the CIA in recovering that Stealth jet and pilot that had a forced landing in Iran a couple of years ago." AJ still hadn't lowered the volume of his voice.  
  
"And she's friends with a Russian KGB officer... "  
  
"I know. Her espionage case turned out to be tied to a plot to assassinate the Russian President. They joined forces, foiled the attempt and arrested the rogue Russian general who was responsible. I understand President Bush was most appreciative, considering his relationship with Putin." AJ crossed his arms and waited.  
  
"She's made several trips to Russia and ... "  
  
AJ slammed his hands down on the desk, leaned in and bellowed, "Are you deaf? I just told you that. I ORDERED her to Russia. Now tell me where Col. MacKenzie is!"  
  
Peterson, feeling shell-shocked, could only splutter, "I DON'T know... "  
  
AJ looked up at the ceiling, "I don't have time for this." He glared at the inspector, "Come back when you have something substantial to report. Dismissed!" Peterson stood there, flabbergasted. AJ's brow lowered menacingly, "OUT!" Inspector Peterson fled. The Admiral waited a minute and then walked back to the conference room. He opened the door and entered to a loud burst of applause and whistles. Looking around at his staff, he smiled grimly and said, "That should buy us a day."  
  
Baylor Women's Shelter  
Washington, D.C.  
1410 Local  
  
Evelyn Rosser, R.N., looked disapprovingly at Emma. They had clashed a number of times over the years, the victories and defeats were fairly even. Evelyn, a compact, intense woman, had thought about their relationship on several occasions. It wasn't the difference in philosophies or the clash of two strong-willed personalities, she had decided; she just didn't like Emma Fine. "Medical examinations are confidential." she said flatly.  
  
Emma crossed her arms and gave Evelyn a look that was a combination of amusement and annoyance. "Sarah and I have discussed this at length, she said it was okay if I stayed. Isn't that right, Sarah?"  
  
Sarah looked at the two women. That hadn't been the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Emma had awakened her twenty-three minutes ago and told her it was time to see the RN. Helping her get dressed, Emma then said she would stick around during the examination. Evelyn Rosser tended to see things as black and white: gray areas were not allowed. Emma would make sure Sarah's best interests were considered first. Then Emma had looked Sarah in the eye and said, "Once I know it won't kill you, we are going to sit down and have a serious discussion."  
  
Sarah focused her attention on Evelyn and simply said, "Yes."  
  
The RN snorted and said, "Fine. Let's get started." She was quick but thorough. After checking Sarah's vitals, she looked at the stitches on the side of her head and peered into her eyes. "The stitches can come out in another day or so. You realize you have a concussion?" Not really waiting for a reply, she started unwrapping the dressing on Sarah's upper arm. Carefully removing the last layer of blood and matter encrusted material, she looked at Sarah in surprise, "This is a bullet wound."  
  
Sarah's laconic "I know." earned her a glare from Evelyn and a small, amused snort from Emma. Sarah continued, "There's also a wound in my side and I have several cracked ribs." She regarded Evelyn steadily.  
  
Evelyn looked over at Emma, "You know I will have to report this to the authorities." She missed the look of fear and alarm that flashed across Sarah's face, but Emma didn't.  
  
"No you don't." Emma was an island of calm amid Sarah's rising sense of panic.  
  
"It's the law, Emma." Evelyn said adamantly.  
  
"Think it through, Evelyn." Emma said reasonably. "It's already been reported." She looked at Sarah, "You were taken to a hospital?" At her nod, Emma continued, "See? It's been taken care of. You just have to make sure there's no infection and put fresh dressings on. Then we can get this young lady back to bed," she turned to Sarah, "I assume bedrest was prescribed?" Sarah nodded again. "There, you see? Now if you'll get those dressings, we can be finished." Emma smiled.  
  
Evelyn clamped her mouth shut and recovered the wounds with fresh dressings. Ten minutes later, Emma had a hand under Sarah's elbow and they were headed back to her room. "Are you hungry, honey?" Receiving an affirmative, she said, "If you can handle sitting for a bit, we can detour through the kitchen and I'll fix you a bite to eat."  
  
Baylor Women's Shelter  
Washington, D.C.  
1500 Local  
  
Emma stepped out into the warm spring afternoon and headed up the street to the bus stop. She walked along deep in thought. She'd gotten Sarah back in bed after feeding her an astonishing amount of food. Life definitely wasn't fair, she reflected, if Sarah ate like that all the time and still stayed slender. They had agreed to talk tonight when Emma came back for her shift. There were mysteries surrounding Sarah and Emma intended to solve at least a few. It wasn't until she reached the bus stop and turned around, that she realized a car had been following her. It stopped and a large man got out.  
  
"Momma, I thought you worked the graveyard shift?"  
  
"James! How long were you following me? Why didn't you say something sooner?" Emma said with a smile. Her oldest was a lieutenant on the DC police force. He had passed the test and received his promotion just last year.  
  
James smiled, "Momma, I know better than to interrupt you when you're thinking that hard. Adopted another orphan?" 'Emma's Orphan Brigade' was the source of much amusement to her sons. Not the 'orphans' themselves, but the havoc she could and would wreak on their behalf and the hapless bureaucrats that wound up in her sights. "How about a ride home? I'll let you play with the siren," he teased.  
  
Emma fixed him with a mock glare and then smiled, "Lights, too?"  
  
James looked over at his mother as he drove. "So, who's the latest member of the Orphan Brigade?"  
  
"Her name's Sarah. Little bit of thing, but there's steel underneath. Someone tried to kill her, she'd been shot as well as beaten. I'm pretty sure she walked out of a hospital before she was supposed to. She doesn't complain, hasn't really said much more than 'please' and 'thank you' but we're going to sit down and talk tonight." Emma sat silently for a moment, then said musingly, "She's seen death before. I can see it in her eyes. It hasn't broken her yet, Sarah's a survivor."  
  
James drove on and then said carefully, "Momma, would you like me to... "  
  
"No, not yet." Emma replied, "Thank you for offering though." They drove the rest of the way in silence, both lost in thought.  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
1530 Local  
  
The Admiral looked around the table at Harm, Sturgis and the Gunny. Bud and Harriet had collected little AJ and gone home for the day. They promised to get an early start tomorrow. Webb had gone back to his office to see what he could dig up. They had decided the Lattimer case was somehow the focal point. They hadn't decided if it had anything to do with drugs.  
  
Sturgis cleared his throat and said, "Pardon me, Admiral. I was curious about something Webb said earlier. I realize I don't know Mac as well as most of you, but why is he so certain she can drop out of sight successfully? She didn't take ID, she has no money and if she's running, she's not going to show up anywhere she thinks these people might be watching, so she can't turn to her friends."  
  
AJ glanced at an expressionless Harm while thinking it over, finally, he said, "Mac grew up with an abusive alcoholic for a father and a mother who left when she was fifteen. She ran wild after that. She'd been on her own for most of her life anyway. When she was eighteen, she nearly killed herself in an auto accident. Her uncle stepped in, straightened her out and got her into the Marine Corps. She's used to relying on herself and I'd have to say, she's probably familiar with the seamier sides of life. She could blend in almost anywhere."  
  
Sturgis listened in amazement. Glancing over, he saw the same expression on the Gunny. He would have never guessed that the squared-away Marine Colonel had had that kind of childhood. 'Dear god... ' Sturgis suddenly realized the Admiral was watching him. "Excuse me, sir, and thank you."  
  
AJ gave a slight nod and then looked at them both, "You realize this is not general knowledge? I expect you both to respect Mac's privacy." At their affirmatives, he stood up, "I think we could all use a break. Those of you who wish to continue, I'll be back at 1800, otherwise I'll see you tomorrow morning." He started for the door and then turned around, "Thank you. I know this isn't how you planned to spend your weekend." He walked out.  
  
McMurphy's  
1610 Local  
  
Harm, Sturgis and Gunny Walters sat at a small table towards the back of the bar. There was a pitcher of beer on the table and they were waiting for their pizza order. Sturgis sipped his beer and looked over at Harm, "I guess you've known about Mac's past all along?"  
  
Harm fiddled with his glass, not answering. He glanced over at Walters, "We're off-duty now, so you can call me Harm. I've been wanting to thank you for what you did for Mac. I owe you one."  
  
Walters shrugged dismissively, then leaned back and looked at the two officers, "My friends call me Dubby." Seeing their expressions, he said, "My initials: Are. Dubba-Yah. ...Dubby." They still stared at him. "Look, it's a Southern thing." He was getting exasperated.  
  
Harm looked at Sturgis and said solemnly, "The South has some very strange names, Stur-gis."  
  
Equally solemn, Sturgis replied, "I believe that's true, Har-mon."  
  
They both looked at Walters again, Harm continued in the same tone, "But then, the South has some very strange people."  
  
Walters stared at them and then started to chuckle, "Goddamn Squids... take them out of the water and their manners go all to hell."  
  
The other two men laughed, pleased with themselves. Then Harm said, "To answer your question, Sturgis, I found out a lot of it while we were partnered together the first couple of years. Mac tends to alternate between being incredibly forthright and making a clam look chatty." He rubbed his eyes, "God, I hope she's okay, wherever she is."  
  
"I'm sure she is, Harm." Sturgis said reassuringly. The pizzas arrived just then, sparing them from further conversation.  
  
McMurphy's  
1730 Local  
  
" ... so we're standing in the Moscow airport after this shootout with a rogue KGB officer and here's the last person I expect to see, Admiral Chegwidden. I ask him what he's doing there and he says, 'Decking Webb.' Then he turns around and just flattens Clay, broke his nose." Harm laughed and then glanced at his watch. "Oh man, I've got to get back to JAG. Either of you coming?"  
  
"I'm ready to give it another shot," Sturgis said. "How about you, Dubby?"  
  
"Can't. I need to get some rack time. I'm dropping in on the security detail at 0100. If I run across anything or think of something that would help, I'll give one of you a call," Walters said as he stood and tossed some bills on the table. "Don't worry, we'll get these bastards." He headed for the door.  
  
Sturgis looked at Harm, "I'd like to stop by Mac's apartment first. Do you want to call the Admiral and tell him we'll be late?"  
  
"What are you expecting to find there?" Harm asked, puzzled.  
  
Sturgis smiled, "An anomaly."  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
1825 Local  
  
AJ turned and looked as Harm and Sturgis hurried into the conference room. "Sir, we've found something," Harm said, holding up a book. He looked over at Sturgis, "Go ahead, you figured it out."  
  
"Actually sir, it was Bud who was on the right track. He mentioned how he thought it was odd that Mac would have just one military biography amid all the rest of her books. We think this was the Colonel's insurance in case anything happened to her. Read the inscription, Harm."  
  
" 'To Harm, Happy Anniversary of our first case together. Admiral Jacobs recommended this and I thought you might like it - thanks for being there. -- Mac. P.S. Who would have thought the Montgomery case would have led to so much?' " Harm read triumphantly, they were finally getting a handle on this.  
  
AJ looked at Harm, "Your first case together was about Mac's uncle, Matthew O'Hara and that was in September. Who the hell is Montgomery?"  
  
"We just looked it up, sir. Montgomery was convicted of espionage in 1938. He smuggled information out of the country in crates of rare books. The information Mac wanted us to find has to be hidden somewhere in this book." Harm gazed at AJ, "Admiral Jacobs must be involved, too." He looked back at the book, "Now we just have to figure out what information and where it's hidden."  
  
Five minutes later, they were no closer. "It's got to be in here." Harm said in exasperation. They'd removed the dust cover and thumbed through the book page by page.  
  
"Maybe it's some kind of code involving the text that tells where to find the evidence... " Sturgis suggested.  
  
"No." Harm sat in thought for a moment, "Let's go back to the beginning. This all starts with Lattimer. Mac goes to interview him. He's Admiral Jacobs' yeoman, what if he stumbled across something?"  
  
AJ picked up the trail. "He tells Mac and provides some sort of proof... No... he wouldn't have anything with him in the brig. Okay, he tells her where to find the proof." AJ stopped and then slapped a hand to his head in exasperation, "Mac stopped at NIS on her way back to JAG on Friday! Charlie Jacobs called me and mentioned it, he was laughing about some officious young lieutenant Mac had deflated." He paused and then said, "I ran into her as she was leaving Friday, she seemed kind of rattled." AJ looked at Harm, "I thought it was something you did."  
  
Sturgis stifled a laugh at the look on Harm's face and said, "What would the evidence look like? Papers would be too bulky and noticeable, Lattimer would have had trouble smuggling them out. A computer disk?"  
  
"Or a CD." Harm said, "It would hold more and it's a lot thinner than a floppy disk... " His voice trailed off and he picked up the book again and looked at it. Opening it up, he started picking at a corner of the inside cover. After peeling away the paper on the front side, he moved to the back. A moment later, he was holding the CD in its vinyl envelope.  
  
"Bingo." Sturgis said. 


	10. Part 10

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
2010 Local  
  
"Oh my God," Sturgis said. He and the Admiral were reading over Harm's shoulders as he scrolled through document after document on 'Archangel.' "This must have scared the hell out of Mac. No wonder she ran after hearing Lattimer was dead."  
  
"Yeah," said AJ thoughtfully. "It looks like they've got operatives planted everywhere. We need to talk to Webb. We've got to be extremely careful about who we let know about this." He was silent for a moment, "I think we should keep this confined to ourselves and Webb for now. Thinking they have a chance of finding this evidence first will be the only leverage Mac has to keep these people from killing her outright." He saw the look on Harm's face, "We're going to have to assume they're going to find her eventually. Hopefully, we can get there first, but they have more resources."  
  
Emma Fine's Apartment  
Washington, DC  
2205 Local  
  
Emma woke to the sound of the telephone. She never could bring herself to use an answering machine. If she was home, she answered; otherwise they could call back. She looked at the clock and groaned. Twenty-five minutes before she would normally get up, it had been a long day. Irritably, Emma picked up the phone, "Yes?"  
  
"Momma?" It was James.  
  
"James? What's wrong? Is it Michael?" Her youngest was deployed with a carrier group, worry was something she was learning to live with.  
  
"No Momma, Michael's fine. But something is going on at the shelter. A bunch of Feds moved in about ten minutes ago. I just heard it over the radio, I'm on my way to pick you up. I think you'd better get down there before it gets completely out of hand." James hung up.  
  
Baylor Women's Shelter  
Washington, DC  
2225 Local  
  
Emma was out and striding towards the shelter almost before James got the car completely stopped. There were unmarked cars, as well as a number of squad cars, all with lights flashing in front of the building. The shelter doors were standing open and she angrily observed groups of nervous residents clustered on the sidewalks, staffers flitting from group to group. By the time, she sailed through the front doors, Emma was working on a full head of steam. Glaring at a trenchcoated young man who stepped into her path, she snapped, "Where's the man responsible for this circus?"  
  
The young man raised his hands, "I'm sorry, Ma'am. You'll have to wait outside until we're finished."  
  
Emma's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Young man, you're finished now. You've forced women whose safety depends upon anonymity to stand outside on the street. Unless you get them back inside here and produce adequate justification for this outrage; my first call will be to ZNN, my second call will be to the Washington Post and my third will be to a law firm that specializes in taking government agencies to the cleaners." She gave a small, hard smile, "I understand they're not above suing individuals."  
  
His eyes widened in alarm, the young man said, "I'll get Inspector Peterson."  
  
Emma walked back to the front doors and looked out. Seeing one of the staff close by, she gestured her over, "Lisa, get the women together and get them back in here. Take them to the rec room for now until I get these people out of here."  
  
Lisa nodded and said quietly, "Emma, they're looking for that new resident you checked in the other night. They haven't found her yet. She wasn't in her room." They both turned as a small man stomped into the lobby, trailed by the first young man. Emma glanced at Lisa and gestured for her to get going. Then she turned to meet Inspector Peterson head-on.  
  
He stopped in front of her and pointed towards the door, "This is a Federal investigation. You will wait outside or I'll have you arrested for obstruction of justice."  
  
Emma folded her arms and matched him glare for glare, "Don't bother trying to bluff me, sonny. If you had a legal leg to stand on, the DC police would be in here, too. And if you had the brains to pour piss out of a boot, you'd have known better than to try to bludgeon your way past me." She thumped a finger into his chest, rocking him backward, "What I'd better see in the next ten seconds is your identification and the federal warrant that authorized this debacle. If I find you have exceeded your authority, you will have sixty seconds to gather your little band of merry men and get the hell out." She put her hand out and waited.  
  
Peterson reached inside his coat and pulled out his ID. "I'm Inspector Avery L. Peterson of the Naval Intelligence Service," he said importantly. Pulling out a folded paper from a side pocket, he slapped it into Emma's hand. "And this is my authorization. Now get out."  
  
Emma barely glanced at his ID, opened the paper and began to read. When she looked up, she was wearing a small, feral grin. Peterson gulped in spite of himself. "I would say that you've just opened your agency to a number of lawsuits, Mr. Peterson. This is not a military facility and I do not see a representative from the District Attorney's office. All this says is that a Lt. Col. Sarah MacKenzie is wanted as a material witness. It does not give you permission to enter and search these premises or force the residents out. You may tell your superiors to expect at least a dozen suits alleging emotional distress. ...You don't even know if she's here, do you? This was a fishing expedition."  
  
"She's here!" Peterson blustered, he was beginning to sweat. "A brown-eyed brunette named Sarah was treated here for gunshot wounds. It's Sarah MacKenzie!"  
  
Emma gave him a pitying look, "Half the women in this place could fit that description, most of them have had violent injuries: gunshot and knife wounds, broken bones... And we don't use real names here, 'Sarah' is an alias." She looked at her watch, "Sixty seconds and counting, Inspector. I will be calling the DA to discuss what charges will be filed against you."  
  
Peterson stood there, his mouth opening and closing silently. He'd been so sure he would find and arrest the treasonous Col. MacKenzie here! The ramifications of his precipitous act were finally beginning to dawn. Behind him, the young man spoke into a small transmitter.   
  
According to Emma's watch, they walked out with three seconds to spare. She went over to the door and looked out. Five minutes later, the only car left was James. Emma stuck her head out the door and waved. Her son gave her a thumbs-up, grinned and headed off into the night. She turned around to find the staffers watching her. "Is everyone okay?" she asked.  
  
Lisa glanced at the others and nodded, "Although, I think we'll be dealing with some nightmares tonight. Emma, no one's seen Sarah since this started, but we're pretty sure she's still in the building. Were they really looking for her? Would you like us to help search?"  
  
"It was a case of mistaken identity and not yet, thanks," Emma replied, "That poor woman was already nervous as a cat, the last thing she needed was to be the object of a misguided manhunt. I'll just meander through and see if I can coax her out from wherever she's hiding."  
  
Baylor Women's Shelter  
Washington, DC  
2305 Local  
  
Emma stood in the doorway to Sarah's room and looked up and down the corridor. 'Think it through, Emma,' she told herself. 'They'd have seen her coming up the corridor... ' She walked down the hallway, 'Did they have time to search the basement... ?' She went down the steps. Standing at the bottom, she called softly, "Sarah?" She listened for a moment and then moved deeper into the dimly lit room. "Sarah, honey? They're gone, it's safe." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a darker shape detach itself from the shadows. She spun and then put her hand to her chest, "Good Lord, Sarah. You'll give me a heart attack!"  
  
A pale Sarah MacKenzie stood in front of Emma, "I have to leave."  
  
Emma looked at her, "Don't be silly, those men are gone. You're safe here."   
  
Sarah just shook her head. "You don't understand, I can't stay."  
  
Emma glanced over and saw a number of folding chairs leaning against a wall. "Just a minute..." She walked over, pulled out two and set them up. She motioned Sarah over, "Let's sit, it's been a trying day." Settling herself, Emma looked at Sarah, "So you're in the military? My youngest son, Michael, is a Seaman. He's deployed in the Indian Ocean. He thinks it's exciting, but he's only twenty-two.You know how boys can be."  
  
Sarah sat and looked at her. There was a surreal quality to all this: sitting in the dim light of a basement, minutes after fearing for her life (the NIS agents had been standing on the steps when they turned around and left), and now she was listening to Emma chat about her family. "Emma, did you hear me?"  
  
"Of course, dear... And you're a Lt. Colonel in the Marine Corps? You must be very good to have gotten so far, so young. What do you do?" Emma smiled brightly.  
  
Feeling bemused, Sarah replied, "I'm an attorney."  
  
"Oh." Emma's eyebrows went up in surprise, then she leaned forward and patted Sarah's knee, "It's all right, dear, we all make mistakes."  
  
Sarah stared at her in shock and then she couldn't help herself, she started to laugh.  
  
Emma sat smugly and waited for Sarah to run down. "Feeling better?" At Sarah's somewhat breathless nod, she continued, "Now tell me what I don't understand."  
  
Sarah adjusted herself in the chair and gathered her thoughts. "Peterson isn't the problem. The people using him as a birddog are. They've murdered two people so far. They're going to kill me and they'll have no qualms about killing anyone here if that's what it takes. They'll try to make it look accidental: a boiler explosion or gas leak; but they're not going to stop. It's not safe for you, if I stay. I won't have any more deaths on my conscience, I can't."  
  
Emma stared at her, Sarah made it sound so... so... inevitable. "Surely the police or the FBI... someone... can protect you."  
  
Sarah shook her head. "This... web I've stumbled into has threads everywhere. There's very few people I know I can trust and I don't want anything to happen to them either."  
  
"Can you at least tell me what this is all about?" Emma asked.  
  
Sarah considered the request and then nodded, "I owe you that." She began, "Two days ago, I was asked to represent a client on drug possession charges. I went to interview him. He was in an office privy to sensitive information and had come across something unusual. Turns out he had stumbled across an illegal covert operation. He began gathering evidence. Last week, he realized they had discovered what he was doing. He framed himself with the drugs, got arrested and contacted me. I wasn't sure if I believed him and he told me where to find the evidence." Sarah paused for a moment, and then said softly, "He was so frightened... " She shook her head and continued, "I started feeling nervous too, so after going back to my office for a little while, I took everything to my apartment. After looking at the proof, I knew he had every right to be scared. Then I realized that I had inadvertently left some interview notes at my office. They covered my client's suspicion that his superior was involved. When I went back, these people were already there. They tried to kill me then, but our head of security interrupted them. While I was in the hospital, Peterson showed up and all but accused me of espionage. Then he told me my client had committed 'suicide' in his cell. Early the next morning, I ran."  
  
Emma sat for a moment in disbelief, "Dear lord... " She looked at Sarah, "But what are you going to do? You can't run forever."  
  
"I know. When I re-hid the evidence, I left a trail for my friends to follow. Hopefully, they've figured it out and they're taking steps to catch these people." Sarah stopped and looked at Emma.  
  
Emma's eyes widened, "You're going to use yourself as a decoy!" 


	11. Part 11

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
Baylor Women's Shelter  
Washington, DC  
1220 Local  
  
Sarah glanced over at Emma as they sat in her room going over the details of her escape plan. Emma had given up trying to change her mind after the first thirty-seven minutes. During those thirty-seven minutes... well, it had been an impressive display of persuasion. Sarah knew her own dispassionate view of her plan and the odds against it, puzzled Emma. She wasn't being fatalistic or fearless. She had learned at an early age to separate her emotions from whatever situation she found herself in. During her childhood, it had been a necessary survival tool. As an officer, she'd found it was also sometimes required. A good Marine officer did not show fear or uncertainty in front of subordinates. Nor did a good officer refuse an assignment because of the possibility of injury or death. Sarah truly believed that Harm and the Admiral's best shot at taking down 'Archangel' would be if she kept the network's attention and energy focused upon herself.  
  
But first, she had to get out of the shelter... Sarah was willing to face the danger, but she wasn't planning on being foolhardy. Recon was the key. She knew a good deal more about the subject than a lot of people suspected. Summers spent with her grandmother usually meant at least a week or so with her Uncle Matt, provided he was stationed anywhere near. They would camp in the desert, hunting for fossils and dinosaur prints and her uncle would turn it into a Recon game. That had stopped during the bleak period that began with her grandmother's death and ended, almost literally, with the car crash. Uncle Matt had stepped in and saved her life. After she had joined the Corps; when duty permitted, they always managed at least one trip together a year. (At least until he'd rapped the US government on the snout and gotten a bloody nose in return.) Sitting around the campfire at night, her uncle would expound on the finer points of reconnaissance and being a Marine and she would soak up the information up like a sponge.  
  
Emma's voice brought her back to the present. "Are you sure they're watching this place?"  
  
Sarah nodded, "I think the only reason I made it here at all, was because they didn't think I could stand up, much less walk out of the hospital. They thought they had time." She sighed, "They aren't going to make that mistake again. If Peterson thought I was here, they'll be positive that I am. They're watching."  
  
"But wouldn't it be better to sneak by them?" This was the part of the plan Emma didn't like at all.  
  
"It would probably be safer, but one of the points of this exercise is to make sure they know I've left this place." Sarah didn't like this part either, but it was necessary. She would have to make sure she was seen leaving without being too obvious, and then she'd have to lose them. Privately, she hoped she had the strength.  
  
Emma looked at the DC street guide again. Sarah had been familiarizing herself with the area while Emma filled her in on the neighborhood, its gangs and what areas were disputed. It sounded like Bosnia.  
  
"Sarah? What about a diversion of some sort? I could ask James to come with sirens and lights. I'm sure I could convince him without actually telling him the reason."  
  
"I don't know, Emma. We want to draw these people away from here and they're too dangerous to have James confront them without knowing what he's getting into."  
  
Emma sat with her brow furrowed in thought, "Well, how about this?" She pointed to a street three blocks away from the shelter, "Do you think you can get here?" Sarah looked at the spot and nodded, Emma continued slowly, thinking it over as she spoke, "What if James just raced by them with lights and sirens? See? There's an alleyway that splits off in several directions. If you could get to there while James distracts them, I'll bet you could lose them." She frowned, "It's the timing that will be a problem. From what you've said, it would be better if James didn't start anywhere near the shelter. How will he know when to go?"  
  
"We'll give him a specific time. If I leave the building at, say 0130, it will probably take me 8 or 9 minutes to get to this point. So we tell him to start his run at 0138." Sarah was feeling a little more hopeful, this might work. She looked at Emma in admiration, "You're good at this."  
  
Emma laughed, "You don't raise three children without becoming an expert in tactics and strategy." She started to unstrap her wristwatch, "You'll need this." Emma looked up in surprise when Sarah shook her head. "Don't be silly, it's not expensive or a family heirloom."  
  
Sarah smiled, "It's not that, Emma. I don't need a watch."  
  
"Of course you do, take it." Why was she being difficult over this?  
  
"Emma," Sarah said, "It's 1232."  
  
Emma looked at her watch and then at Sarah, her mouth round with surprise. Sarah shrugged lightly, "I have an internal clock."  
  
Baylor Women's Shelter  
Washington, DC  
0130 Local  
  
Mac quietly slipped out the side door and crept alongside the building. She was back in Marine mode. She'd said her goodbyes to Emma a few minutes before. After finalizing the plan earlier, they'd gone to the kitchen so she could eat. God only knew when she'd manage that again. Emma had called her son and cajoled him into helping. She'd said something curious about helping out the 'Orphan Brigade' and when she saw the look on Mac's face, had smiled and said, "You're our latest member". Then she had helped Mac into the two layers of clothes. If things worked out, she'd discard the outer layer in the alley, the change in appearance would be insurance. Emma had also had given her what cash she had - fifty-seven dollars. She had brushed off all protests, insisting it would make her feel better. Mac felt a little bit guilty, after everything Emma had done for her, she had asked her for one more favor...  
  
Mac gave herself a mental shake. If she needed any more proof that she hadn't recovered, this was it: woolgathering while playing cat and mouse with people who wanted to kill her. She stopped at the corner of the building and cautiously peered out. It looked clear, but she knew better - they were out there. Mac hurried as quickly as she could through an open area before disappearing into the shadows of the next building. She paused for a second, 'That should do it if they were paying attention.' Now the chase began in earnest.  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
0900 Local  
  
AJ leaned back in his chair and rubbed his jaw. He had dreaded Monday. Yesterday, after discovering the CD, they'd made several copies. The original was now in his safe. Webb had one copy, Harm and Sturgis were working with the other. They were using Sturgis' laptop to prevent accidental (or intentional) access while they tried to identify the 'Archangel' operatives. The tough part was keeping Bud and Harriet out of the loop for now, without seeming to abandon their investigation. He'd put them to work in a conference room, looking for Mac and investigating the escape of their only suspect. Then there was the staff...  
  
The whole building was abuzz with the news of Friday's incident. He had assembled them all and given the salient points: a security breach had killed PFC Rodreguiz and injured Colonel MacKenzie. He'd tried to pass over Mac's disappearance, but Singer 'damn that woman' had asked about visiting the Colonel in the hospital. He was well aware of the animosity between Mac and the ambitious Lieutenant, although they both conscientiously maintained a professional attitude with each other. Singer was probably hoping Mac would take a turn for the worse and she'd be there to see it. AJ grunted in annoyance with himself, that was uncalled for. After she'd brought it up, he'd been forced to tell them that Mac had disappeared. He could only imagine the scuttlebutt making the rounds.  
  
AJ stood up. He'd needed to get out of his office for a bit. He would stop by the breakroom for coffee and try to gauge the mood of the bullpen. There'd been surprise and alarm and now that they had had time to think and talk about it, he'd see if he could tell how they were feeling. 'Damn, this is what Mac would do for him. Keep him abreast of any turmoil in the office.'  
  
He walked out of his office, Tiner wasn't at his desk. One of the office staff had probably buttonholed him. As the Admiral's yeoman, people assumed he had the inside track. 'Not this time,' AJ thought to himself. Entering the bullpen, he heard 'Attention on deck.' He said 'As you were,' more or less automatically as he strode purposefully to the breakroom. Keeping focused on his path, he risked a casual glance sideways, 'Damn!' It was worse than he thought. They were watching him like a hawk, not even pretending to work. So intent on his thoughts, he barely managed to keep from walking over the top of Lt. Singer. "Yes, Lieutenant?" he asked wearily.  
  
"Sir, I'd like to volunteer to help defend Col. MacKenzie... when they find her, of course." Singer added quickly.  
  
AJ's brow lowered, he crossed his arms and in a dangerously soft voice, said, "Excuse me?"  
  
"I heard she's being charged with espionage and probably treason, that's why she running. I'd like to help if I may, sir." Singer said in what she hoped was a sincere manner. What she would really like would be to help MacKenzie into a life sentence in Leavenworth... or in front of a firing squad. She was so sick of the preferential treatment accorded the Admiral's 'pets' - Roberts, Rabb and MacKenzie. If she pulled half the stunts they had, she'd be in Greenland counting ice cubes by now. Lauren knew she was a much better attorney and still, she had to put up with the crappy cases and their patronizing attitudes. This would be her opportunity to shine and if she could find a way to quietly stick it to Col. MacKenzie, so much the better.  
  
"I see," AJ pivoted towards the bullpen and bellowed, "May I have everyone's attention?" The staff froze. "It has come to my attention", he paused and glared at Lt. Singer who blanched, "that scuttlebutt already has Col. MacKenzie branded as a traitor and spy. The Colonel has been assigned here for seven years, most of you have known her for at least two. I have never known her to shirk her duties, no matter the personal cost or risk. I would be extremely disappointed to find that my staff would throw all that aside on the basis of rumor and innuendo. I thought you would give her the benefit of the doubt." He gazed around the room, "Because it is an ongoing investigation, I was hoping to disseminate as little information as possible. I see it will be necessary to compromise that investigation just a little more. The man who broke into these offices and attempted to murder the Colonel has escaped from the brig. We think he had inside help. Colonel MacKenzie has disappeared for her own safety." AJ looked around the bullpen one more time before focusing on Lt. Singer, "That will be all." He marched back to his office and slammed the door.  
  
AJ stood in the middle of his office, still fuming. 'Well, goddammit. You wanted to know what they were thinking; now you do.' He started forward and then realized he had forgotten his coffee. Angrily, AJ stalked towards his desk. He had his finger poised to jab at the intercom button when Tiner's nervous voice came over the speaker.  
  
"Uh, sir?"  
  
"Yes, Tiner?" AJ tried to control his anger. His yeoman knew now was not a good time to interrupt him. It wouldn't be Jason's fault if he had to bell the cat. The thought almost made him smile.  
  
"Sir, there's a woman out here. She's insisting that she speak with the JAG. She says she's going to sue everyone in the Navy from the SecNav on down and she wants us to arrest Inspector Peterson." Tiner added, 'sotto voce', "She's really angry, sir. Her name's Emma Fine."  
  
AJ blinked. "Send her in, Tiner." He thought for a moment and punched the intercom, "And Tiner? Have Commander Turner and Commander Rabb come to my office."  
  
Admiral Chegwidden stood as Tiner opened the office door and a large, heavyset woman swept into the room. She marched up to his desk and looked at him silently. Almost as one, they both turned and looked at Tiner, who was still standing in the open doorway. His eyes widened, and with a mumbled 'Excuse me sir, ma'am.' he hurriedly shut the door. They looked back at each other. Although her face remained impassive, AJ could swear there was a glint of amusement in the woman's eyes.  
  
"Ms. ... Mrs. Fine?" AJ said, offering his hand, "I'm Admiral AJ Chegwidden, the Judge Advocate General. You wished to see me?" He gestured towards a chair, "Please, have a seat." AJ waited until she had settled herself, then sat down himself and folded his hands on his desk. He gazed at her for a moment and then thought, 'what the hell...' Raising an eyebrow, he said conversationally, "You've been frightening my yeoman."  
  
Emma Fine arched an eyebrow back, "I got here in time to watch you frighten almost an entire office. I thought perhaps you had missed one. Sorry." They stared at each other for a minute, then smiled. "Admiral Chegwidden," Emma began. A knock on the door interrupted them.   
  
AJ gave her an apologetic glance, then looked at the door and barked, "Enter."  
  
The door opened. Harm and Sturgis walked in and came to attention. "Commanders Rabb and Turner reporting as ordered, sir." Harm announced. At the Admiral's 'At ease,' they both relaxed and looked at him.   
  
He introduced them to Emma and then said, "Gentlemen, have a seat. Mrs. Fine is about to tell us why she wishes to the sue the Navy." AJ saw Harm share a look with Sturgis. "And why she would like us to arrest Inspector Peterson." Rabb's head came around so fast, for a moment, AJ thought he'd given himself whiplash. They all looked at Emma.  
  
Emma eyed each man in turn, "Well, you're good-looking men, I'll say that for you." She waited while they exchanged puzzled glances, "I can see where Sarah would enjoy coming to work."  
  
Her words brought the three men to their feet, all speaking at once until the Admiral roared, "AT EASE, GENTLEMEN!" He leaned over his desk towards Emma, "You know where Colonel MacKenzie is?"  
  
Emma sat still for a moment, a little taken aback by their reaction. The tall man looked ready to explode. "As of 1:30 this morning, I did. Which was three hours after I ran that odious little man, Inspector Peterson, and his motley crew out of the shelter where I work. I managed to get him out before he found her, but I couldn't convince her not to leave. She was adamant that staying would put the shelter in danger. That young woman could teach stubbornness to mules." Emma huffed a little, remembering.  
  
Harm couldn't contain himself any longer, with an apologetic look at the Admiral, he asked, "Mrs. Fine, was Mac all right? She should have been in the hospital."  
  
Emma smiled at him, "You're Harm, aren't you? Sarah said you tended to get worked up." Sturgis turned his head and tried to suppress a smile as Harm opened his mouth to protest, but Emma continued, "Sarah was definitely on the ragged side when she showed up early Sunday morning. When she left, she was better - but I'm afraid she's still hurting."  
  
Harm started to ask another question when AJ held up a hand, "That's enough for now, Harm." He turned to Emma, "I'd like to hear everything from the beginning but right now, if you could just give us a synopsis, we can decide how to handle it. I'd like to have everyone who's involved be here when you go through the whole story." For the next fifteen minutes, Emma had their undivided attention. When she finished, AJ looked at Harm, "Call Webb on that dedicated cell he gave you. Tell him what's going on and ask him to come in. Have him imply it's his idea to see me." He looked back at Emma, "Mrs. Fine, how would you feel about playing the harridan one more time?" 


	12. Part 12

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
0949 Local  
  
Tiner looked up as the Admiral's door banged open. That woman appeared in the entryway, trailed by Cmdr. Rabb and Cmdr. Turner. She was looking over her shoulder, still loudly complaining, "... And don't think for a minute, that foisting me off on these... these... two dogsbodies is going to keep me out of your face. My taxdollars are paying for your ..." Her voice trailed off as she headed for the conference room, deftly herded by the two commanders. Jason stared after her wide-eyed. He didn't know what a dogsbody was, it couldn't have been good...  
  
"Tiner."   
  
Tiner's head whipped back to see the Admiral standing in the office door. He gulped, "Yes sir?"  
  
"I don't want to be disturbed. Am I making myself clear?" He stared at Tiner for a long moment and quietly shut the door.  
  
Tiner resisted the urge to groan out loud. The Admiral was at his most dangerous when he became quiet like that. Jason knew he was toast - it just was a matter of time. First the news about the Colonel, then Lt. Singer and her apparent deathwish (of all the things to repeat to the Admiral!) and now this lunatic woman screaming at everyone. God, could the day get any worse?  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Jason was retrieving a file from the bullpen when he saw Clayton Webb enter the room. 'Oh no!... Please look for Cmdr. Rabb... please look for Cmdr. Rabb... Damn!' Tiner hurried over to place himself in Webb's path. "Can I help you, Mr. Webb?"  
  
"No." Webb stepped around the petty officer and continued to the Admiral's office.  
  
Jason intercepted him again. "Are you sure, sir?"  
  
"Yes." Webb skirted to the one side. Tiner followed and then moved in front again; they were almost at the Admiral's door. Finally, Webb looked at him in exasperation, "TINER! Get out of my way!"  
  
"Mr. Webb... " Jason was feeling desperate, he lowered his voice, "The Admiral is in a really bad mood because of the break-in and Colonel MacKenzie. Are you SURE I can't help you?"  
  
"Positive." With that, Clay ducked around Tiner, knocked once on the Admiral's door and disappeared into the office.  
  
Jason slumped against the wall, then he softly began banging his head, "Toast. Toast. Toast... "  
  
Clay walked over to AJ's desk, "You realize Tiner's about to have apoplexy?"  
  
AJ grunted, "I'll make it up to him. How much did Rabb tell you?"  
  
"That you had a lead on Mac."  
  
"Yeah, I wanted you to hear this." AJ stood up, "Ready to chase after me to the conference room?"  
  
Tiner looked up with an uneasy feeling of deja vu as the Admiral's door banged open. He had this horrible vision of Webb calling the Admiral a 'dogsbody'. This time, though, the Admiral stomped through the door first, with Webb right behind him. Jason shot to his feet and squeaked, "Sir!" The Admiral barely noticed him as he went by.  
  
"For the last time, Webb, NO! I will not have you involving my officers in another of your operations! Not now! Use your own damn agents!" Storming through the bullpen, AJ didn't bother acknowledging the 'Attention on deck', the staff stood frozen, watching the two men.  
  
Webb stayed right with AJ like a terrier nipping at his heels, "You don't have a choice, Admiral. It's a matter of national security. The SecNav..." His voice faded as they disappeared into the conference room with a bang. The staff relaxed and looked at each other in disbelief. The buzz of conversation slowly increased and then cut off suddenly as the conference door opened again. Cmdr. Turner stuck his head out. Gesturing towards a petty officer, he said, "Get Gunny Walters up here. Now." He disappeared back into the conference room. The staff stood there in amazement, what a Monday!  
  
Earlier that morning  
Washington, DC  
0320 Local  
  
Mac leaned against the wall of the alley, her arm and her side a constant dull ache. She had successfully eluded Archangel; for now anyway, she wasn't nearly far enough away yet. It had been a little dicey getting away from the shelter - hell, it had scared the living daylights out of her...   
  
To get to the alley entryway had required walking the last block in the open. When Mac was seventy-five feet from the alley, she'd become aware of a man following about fifty feet behind her. Fifty feet from the alley, another man showed up ahead of her. At twenty feet, both men began to close in. It had taken every last ounce of her nerve to wait for James to show up, to not panic and bolt. Finally, he had appeared with sirens and lights blazing. As he roared past, Mac had eased carefully into the alley and then turned and ran.   
  
After reaching the split, she'd turned left, she had forced herself to keep moving. Her side felt like it was on fire, the blood pounding so fiercely in her head that she was seeing spots and she couldn't get enough air. When the alley split again, she turned right and, by then, had slowed to a stumbling walk. She hadn't chanced a look back, she'd been afraid even that small motion would knock her right off her feet. Mac had come across the cubbyhole by accident after tripping on the remains of an old pallet. Unable to keep her balance, she'd gone down on her hands and knees. For a few seconds, she had stayed there, no longer caring if anyone was behind her. She was tired of the pain and the fear... and then she'd seen it. A small opening, visible only at groundlevel, a crawlspace of some sort. Gratefully, she had crept in, ignoring the unidentifiable and sundry bits of garbage. Mac had stayed there for the next sixty-three minutes, recovering - she'd even managed to doze a little. Finally, she'd crawled back out and peeled out of the extra layer of clothes she had been wearing...  
  
A noise behind her startled her out of her thoughts. Mac froze and then, heart pounding, she turned to see two men staring at her. The larger of the two gave her a leering smile.  
  
Mike and Arnie had been cutting through the alley after a night of bar-crawling. When he was sober, Mike was loud, obnoxious and belligerent. When he was drunk, he was just plain mean. At the last bar, a bouncer - bigger, stronger and nastier, had faced him down and thrown him out. Arnie, little suck-up that he was, had gone with him. Mike was still pissed. The last thing he expected to see was some broad leaning against the alley wall. In the dim light, she wasn't half bad-looking. He smiled, this could be fun.  
  
The woman froze, staring at him. Mike waited expectantly. Seeing fear always gave him a rush, maybe she'd try to run. He was surprised when she took an unsteady step towards him, "Tony?? Is tha' you?" Oh man, she was plastered! Better and better... He let her walk up to him. She put a hand on his chest and blinked owlishly at him, "You're not Tony! Who're you?"  
  
"Mike." Now that she was close, he could see the bruises on her, "What the hell happened to you?"  
  
The woman smiled and leaned into him, "I ran into a door." She snickered, "Tha's what I always tell 'em. Doors are dangerous, Mike ... nice name Mike." Her eyes half-closed, she gave a seductive smile, "Are you nice, Mike?" Her hand was making little circles on his chest.  
  
"Let's find out."  
  
He grabbed her arm, only to have her yelp in pain, "Owww Mike! The door hit me there too!" He let go and grabbed the other arm and started to pull her deeper into the alley. She stopped again and he looked at her, "What?!"  
  
She leaned towards him and said in a low, petulant voice, "Somebody's watchin'."  
  
Arnie. He'd forgotten all about him. Mike looked over at him, "Get lost."  
  
"But Mike! What about me?" Arnie whined. He was willing to wait his turn.  
  
Mike's voice lowered dangerously, "I said, get lost." Arnie still stood there. Mike took a menacing step towards him. Arnie ran.  
  
They went deeper into the alley, until Mike decided it was far enough. He backed her up against the wall, leaning in with his hands resting on either side of her. She smiled lazily and ran the back of her hand along his face, letting it drop onto his collar. Grabbing a handful of material, she started to pull him towards her. He was so caught up, he never felt her other hand snake onto the collar on the opposite side. Not until the hands suddenly twisted and pulled. As the collar constricted, there was a terrible pressure and buzzing in his ears. He had time for one wide-eyed look before he blacked out.   
  
Mac followed him down as he collapsed, keeping pressure on the choke hold. She didn't want to kill him, neither did she want him recovering before she could get away. She had taken a chance with that move, not sure if her injured arm would allow her to grip firmly enough to apply the choke. Quickly Mac patted him down, checking pockets - she couldn't afford any surprises. Her eyebrows rose when she found the .32 automatic pistol, she'd been luckier than she thought. A minute later, Mac was hurrying down the alley with the pistol, a switchblade, fifty dollars of his cash and his shoes. Dumping the shoes in a trashcan, Mac disappeared into the pre-dawn darkness of Washington.  
  
Farragut Square  
Washington, DC  
0840 Local  
  
Mac sat on a bench and rested while keeping a surreptitious eye on her surroundings. To passersby, she was just another homeless person to avoid. She was thinking about her next move. Mac was still surprised to have made it this far. It hadn't been without incident, but she'd managed to turn it to her advantage. Now she had over $100 in cash and she was armed. She had debated about keeping the pistol. She didn't want it distracting her from the role she had chosen for herself. It was dangerous to think of being anything but prey. Mac slowly stood up, unobtrusively scanning the area, it was time to move again.  
  
Undisclosed Location  
0900 Local  
  
"Goddammit, where is she?!" the man snapped, he had a low threshold for incompetence.  
  
Hanley threw up his hands in exasperation, "They lost her a couple of blocks from the shelter. She just vanished."  
  
"She was in a hospital two days ago! How fast could she have possibly moved?"  
  
Hanley was becoming irritated in his turn, "If your Inspector Peterson hadn't stormed that shelter like Omaha Beach, we might have been able to grab her there. I told you that man would cause problems."  
  
The man raised a placating hand, "All right, all right, this is getting us nowhere. Let's focus on the problem at hand. Do you know if anyone at JAG has found the missing evidence?"   
  
Hanley paused for a moment and thought, "Not that I know of, and certainly not for lack of trying. Most of them were there all weekend, trying to figure it out. I tried to pump Gunny Walters about it, he told me to mind my own business. That probably doesn't mean anything, he wasn't in a good mood. Oh, and that CIA agent, Webb showed up."  
  
"Webb is back? He could be trouble... we'll have to keep an eye on him."  
  
"We're spreading ourselves thin already," Hanley protested. "How will I find MacKenzie if I have to keep pulling people off to go somewhere else?"  
  
The man looked at Hanley thoughtfully, "You're right, MacKenzie is the key. Once we find her and recover the evidence, any rumors of our existence will be just that: rumors."  
  
"You'll kill her afterwards? Or will it be another 'suicide'?" Hanley was curious.  
  
"I haven't decided, yet. She's caused a tremendous amount of trouble. I'd like to repay her for that." The man was silent for a moment and then chuckled coldly, "She is a beautiful woman - I think, perhaps, we'll sell her." 


	13. Part 13

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
1005 Local  
  
AJ looked around the conference table. Gunny Walters had been the last to arrive and Mrs. Fine had been introduced to everyone. He cleared his throat and began, "We've finally gotten a break, albeit a small one, on the whereabouts of Col. MacKenzie." He looked at Emma, "Mrs. Fine?"  
  
Emma looked around the room. These were the people Sarah would be trusting with her life. Taking a deep breath, she began her story.  
  
Harm watched as the rest listened in rapt attention. He, Sturgis and the Admiral had heard the abbreviated version in his office earlier. After hearing what Mac had said, AJ had told Emma of their decision to keep the Archangel proof confined to an inner circle. She had acknowledged the wisdom of his reasoning and her narrative now made no mention of Mac's revelation to her. He listened with half an ear, grateful that Mac had run into someone like Emma. The more he heard from her, the more he liked her - she reminded him of the Admiral.  
  
Harm focused his attention again, Emma was reaching the end of her story. He hated hearing this part, hated what Mac had decided to do, hated that he wasn't there to protect her. Archangel had a lot to answer for.  
  
After Emma finished speaking, there was a brief silence. AJ scanned the room, "I realize that with almost nine hours headstart, Mac could be practically anywhere. Hell, at this point, if I spotted her with the crew on the space shuttle, it wouldn't surprise me." There were the expected smiles around the table. "But, thanks to Mrs. Fine," he nodded in her direction, "we have a starting point. I don't think Mac will have gone too far; she's making herself a target to draw these people out in the open. I damn sure want to be there when it happens."  
  
Bud raised a hand, "Sir?" AJ glanced at Harm and Sturgis, he had a good idea what was coming. They had discussed how they would handle it. "Do we have any idea who these people are and why they want to kill the Colonel?"  
  
"Not really, Lieutenant. It's more important to find Mac and stop these people before they get to her. We can figure out the who and why later." AJ looked around the room, "Colonel MacKenzie is the key. We need to find her."  
  
"It's a three-way game now," said Clayton Webb. Seeing he had everyone's attention, Clay continued, "It's official, NIS has accused Mac of espionage and treason. The DC police and FBI have issued an APB."  
  
"That's ridiculous!" Harm exploded, "On the basis of what? That Mac speaks Farsi and Russian?"  
  
"Based on the 'evidence', NIS claims to have discovered in Daniel Lattimer's apartment and a bank account in Mac's name in the Cayman Islands. There's half a million in it." Clay replied. He cleared his throat, "There's more. Just before I came over here, I received some news about your escaped intruder. His name was Mark Aiken. He worked for Congressman Peterson as a information analyst. Before that, he did a couple of tours as a Recon Marine."  
  
Harm looked at him, "Was?"  
  
Webb looked grim, "They fished his body out of the Potomac early this morning. Didn't ID him until a couple of hours ago, he's been dead over thirty hours."  
  
"So they got him out of the brig..." Sturgis said.  
  
"And put a bullet in the base of his skull." Clay finished. "These people don't like mistakes."  
  
There was silence.  
  
The intercom suddenly buzzed, causing several people to jump. Tiner's voice came over the speaker, "Admiral?"  
  
"What Tiner?"  
  
"Sir, Col. MacKenzie's on line two."  
  
Preston Hotel  
Washington, DC  
1028 Local  
  
Mac made sure the door was locked and then looked around the filthy little room. It was about what she expected from a rundown hotel that rented by the hour. It suited her purposes though; they took cash, didn't care about ID and the room had a shower. She looked into the tiny bath and shuddered. Well, truth to tell, she'd been in worse places... she'd just been drunk at the time.  
  
She walked back to the bed and gingerly sat down. Mac had used part of her dwindling supply of cash to make purchases at a drugstore and the local thrift shop. She pulled out scissors and the medical supplies. The wounds were still suppurating, all the extra activity hadn't helped much. She couldn't afford to ignore them and she had no intention of going anywhere near any medical clinics, free or otherwise. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Evelyn had gone right ahead and reported her to the authorities. Mac smiled to herself, 'Emma will blister the hide off that woman.' Too bad she wouldn't see it, it would probably be educational.  
  
Mac returned her attention to the matter at hand. Picking up the scissors, she went into the bathroom. Looking into the mirror, she brushed her hair back and contemplated the stitches. Well, they had to come out, she had no intention of looking like the Bride of Frankenstein. Then she'd deal with the rest. Her arm would be awkward but not impossible. She got to work.  
  
Fifty-two minutes later, Mac walked out. She was reasonably clean and makeup covered her bruises. With the clothes she'd picked up, she didn't exactly look like a fashion plate but she no longer looked homeless either. As she walked up the street, a bus pulled in. Mac hurried to catch it, the destination wasn't really important - she just had to keep moving.  
  
Getting off three stops later, Mac started up the street again. When she saw the payphone, she slowed down. She needed to talk to the Admiral, but whether or not to take the chance? It would be naive to think Archangel wasn't somehow monitoring the calls into JAG. Mac thought about it, if she kept the call under thirty seconds she should be safe. She wasn't planning on staying in this area anyway. Fishing change out of her pocket, she walked to the phone and dialed.  
  
"JAG, Petty Officer Tiner speaking." (Here we go, thirty seconds...)  
  
"Tiner, this is..."  
  
"Colonel MacKenzie! Are you all right? We've all been worried... "  
  
"Tiner..." (Damn, twenty two seconds...)  
  
"Where are you, Ma'am? Can you ..."  
  
"TINER! Get me the Admiral, NOW!" (Sixteen seconds...)  
  
Mac fidgeted while the call was transferred. She heard the Admiral's voice, "Mac?!" (Twelve seconds...)  
  
"Yes sir." Mac continued in a rush, "I can't stay on the phone. I'm okay. I'll call again in an hour." She hung up. Four seconds left - glancing up and down the street, she started walking.  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
1130 Local  
  
Everyone sat and looked at the phone, AJ had put it on speaker when he answered.  
  
"Well, at least we know she's all right for now," Bud offered.  
  
"Except that she doesn't know the police are looking for her too. We need to warn her." Harriet said worriedly.  
  
"I imagine she'll be moving from payphone to payphone. Obviously, she knows to keep the calls under thirty seconds." Clay said. He looked at AJ, "And, she obviously thinks the lines here are tapped. She's probably right. I could have that taken care of..."  
  
"No," AJ said thoughtfully, "If we could get a secure line of communication to her, maybe we could use these lines to our advantage." He looked around the room, "We have an hour..." AJ glanced at his watch and smiled, "Excuse me, fifty-seven minutes to come up with a plan."  
  
There were answering smiles around the room at his reference to Mac's sense of timing. The mood in the conference room had lightened. Finally, here was something concrete they could do. AJ sat back and watched his people. They had huddled together near the end of the table, throwing ideas back and forth. Clay walked over and stood next to him.  
  
"We'll get her out of this, AJ."  
  
AJ nodded, Webb could be such a pain in the ass. But, when the chips were down, he came through. He actually liked the man, which was surprising. And he had learned to respect him as well, Webb had a difficult job and he was good at it. AJ thought about what Brumby had said during that goddamn Ragle affair, about all of them being a little bit in love with Sarah MacKenzie. He suspected Clay belonged in that group, too. He knew Mac liked the CIA operative. He broke off from his musing when Emma Fine approached.  
  
"Yes, Mrs. Fine?"  
  
Emma looked at him, "Would you please call me Emma?"  
  
"Of course, Mrs. Fine." AJ grinned at her arched eyebrow, "What can I do for you, Emma?"  
  
"Can we speak privately?" She looked at Clay, "You too, Mr. Webb."  
  
They walked over to a far corner, AJ and Clay looked at her expectantly. Emma cleared her throat a little nervously, "I was wondering if you would consider adding one more member to the inner circle? My son is a lieutenant on the DC police force and I think he could help us if he knew what was going on. He hasn't said anything yet, but I know he's going to start digging into this. He's worried about what I might have gotten myself into. I would trust him with my life... and Sarah already has."  
  
AJ rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at Webb. He knew the difficulty in keeping a secret increased proportionately with the number of people privy to it. Of course, having eyes and ears in the DC police force could be an advantage too. He stood for a minute, weighing the pros and cons. Emma looked a little anxious, Webb was poker-faced. Finally, he spoke, "Can you get him here without raising too much suspicion?"  
  
Emma smiled with relief, "Of course, I'll tell him I need a ride back to my apartment. The taxi was too expensive."  
  
Lincoln Memorial  
Washington, DC  
1420 Local  
  
Mac stood near the back of a group of tourists as they listened to the park employee tell them about Abraham Lincoln. It seemed apropos: she was trying to fool some of the people, all of the time. She went over the earlier phone conversation with the Admiral. She had barely got two words out before he jumped in, "Mac, Harm's going to be sorry he missed you. He had to drop a package off at his dad's place. He'll be back by 1500." She had followed along, "Thank you sir. Tell him I'm fine." and hung up.  
  
Now she was here early to do some recon. Mac tagged along with another group sauntering down past the reflecting pool. Thirty minutes later, she had made a complete circuit of the Vietnam Memorial. She was gratified and a little surprised at what she'd found. So far, Mac had spotted Bud and Harriet, AJ, Sturgis, Harm and Gunny Walters. Her friends had thrown a security cordon around the Wall. At first, when she'd seen the Roberts, she had worried that they would try to get her to come in. As appealing as the idea was, until Archangel was broken, she had to continue. Otherwise, she and her friends would never be safe. The Roberts had walked right by, ignoring her completely as they consulted their travel brochure. Mac gave herself a shake, it was time. 


	14. Part 14

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
Vietnam Memorial  
Washington, DC  
1500 Local  
  
Harm and Sturgis sat on a bench overlooking the Wall. Dressed in sweatshirts and jogging shorts, they were just two of a virtual army of fitness-minded DC residents. In spite of his relaxed outward appearance, Sturgis could tell Harm was tightly wound. The Admiral had pulled him aside earlier and told him to make sure Rabb made no attempt to approach Mac. She didn't need the attention or the distraction. Their job was protection.  
  
He felt Harm go tense and followed his gaze towards the memorial. It took him a moment to pick her out among the clusters of people. She was walking slowly, apparently scanning through the names. Sturgis smiled in appreciation, for all intents and purposes - Mac was only one more visitor to the Wall. He turned his attention to the people in the area. Webb and the Gunny had prepped everyone on what to look for if someone was shadowing Mac.   
  
Harm stared as Mac slowly approached the panel containing his father's name. He wasn't happy with the plan they'd eventually settled on, but couldn't think of anything better in the time they had. It had its good points: Mac would and did grasp immediately the reference to his father's place - not many would. And they did need to have some way to communicate with her without bringing Archangel down on her head. The biggest flaw, and as far as he was concerned it was a major one, was that by now Archangel was well aware of who Mac's friends were. He was worried that the network would use them to find her. The only comfort was that they had a joker in the deck: Emma's son had joined in at the last minute. No one would know who he was.  
  
Mac reached Harm, Sr.'s panel and cautiously glanced from side to side. There was a large, black man in a faded fatigue jacket kneeling at the next panel. He paid no attention to her. Carefully, she knelt down. Mac wasn't happy about this part, she still had trouble getting up and down. She didn't like being so vulnerable. There was a bundle of flowers tied with a ribbon at the base of the Wall. She reached over and picked them up, there was a small package underneath.  
  
A deep voice startled her, it was all she could do to keep from jerking her head towards the sound, "I understand you were drafted into the Orphan Brigade."  
  
Eyes wide, she risked a quick glance at the man. He was looking at the Wall with a small smile on his face, "I'm James. Momma's been worried."  
  
A sudden commotion made them both turn...  
  
Harm felt Sturgis' hand on his shoulder, he looked over and saw him sitting upright, looking intently to the left of the Wall. "What's wrong?"  
  
Sturgis pointed down the slope, "Those three men... Damn!" He was on his feet and running, Harm close behind. They pounded down the hill together on an intercept course.  
  
For a big man, James was surprisingly agile. He was on his feet and turning towards Mac while she was still struggling, cursing her inability to rise quickly. Placing a large hand under each elbow, James lifted Mac to her feet. She staggered for a moment. "Do you have the package?" he asked quickly. When she nodded, he placed a hand on her back, "Let's go."  
  
AJ saw Harm and Sturgis running towards the memorial as Mac and James hurried away, "Son of a bitch!" He started in that direction when he heard the Gunny exclaim, "Sir!" He turned to see Walters pointing towards a different area, two more men were walking quickly towards Mac in an attempt to cut her off. The Gunny was already heading for them, AJ hurried to catch up.  
  
Harm and Sturgis careened into the three men, taking everyone down like ninepins. There was a tangle of arms and legs. The men struggling to get up, Harm and Sturgis working equally hard to keep that from happening. Sturgis was yelling, "What's the matter with you?! Don't you pay attention to where you're going?" One man scrambled away and rolled to his feet, intent on Mac. Harm lunged and missed. Pushing himself up, he saw the man reach inside his jacket. Harm took a deep breath and yelled as loud as he could, "GUN!"  
  
The effect was immediate. Everywhere, people screamed and ran or dove for cover. The man turned back towards Harm, anger evident on his face, pistol in hand. Harm froze, the man looked at him for a long moment and then spun and took off after Mac. Harm scrambled up only to be tackled from behind, it was turning into a brawl.  
  
Mac and James were almost to the end of the memorial when they saw the other two men. Mac turned left, "Head for the trees."  
  
Gunny appeared in front of the two men and stopped, arms outstretched, effectively blocking their path. AJ arrived a moment later. "Gentlemen, I need to see some ID."  
  
"Get out of the way!"   
  
The men tried to go around. Gunny and AJ moved to intercept. "Certainly, as soon as I know who you are."  
  
Mac and James had just entered the treeline when they were bowled over from the side. Mac hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of her. There was a sharp tearing pain in her side. Keeping a hand clamped there, she braced against a tree and struggled to her feet. James was rolling around on the ground, trying to keep the two men occupied. He yelled, "Run!" She ran.  
  
As she cleared the trees, Mac risked a look backwards. She could see another man running towards her, gun in hand. She tried to pick up the pace. When Mac saw the mounted policeman emerge on the bridle path, she veered towards him.  
  
Officer Ken Hoskins was scanning the area, when he felt his horse tense. Turning to see what had attracted Pascal's attention, he saw a disheveled woman stagger up to him. There were bits of leaves and twigs stuck to her clothes and she was holding her side. The woman leaned on Pascal's shoulder, looked up at him and panted, "Help me officer! There's a man back there, he tried to kill me. He's got a gun." Hoskins looked down at her, he could see blood starting to ooze from between her fingers. They both looked down the slope, a man was running towards them. He was holding a gun.  
  
"Get behind the horse, Ma'am." Haskell activated his radio and called for backup, then dismounted, drawing his service weapon. He wasn't sure what was going on - criminals seldom ran TO the police - but the first order of business was disarming this guy. He leveled his weapon and barked, "Freeze! Drop the gun!"  
  
Mac backed around to the far side of the horse and took off.  
  
The man came to an abrupt halt, both hands in the air. "I'm a Federal agent," he said angrily.  
  
Hoskins looked at him, "I don't care if you're Mickey Mouse, drop the gun and get down on the ground." The man glared at him. Hoskins looked back unflinching.   
  
Slowly the man put the gun down and dropped to his knees, "I'll have your badge for this."  
  
Hoskins ignored him, "All the way down and spread-eagle." When the man complied, Hoskins circled towards him, kicking the gun away. He put a knee on the man's back and said, "Put your hands behind your back." After he was cuffed, Hoskins holstered his weapon and picked up the gun. He hauled the man to his feet, "Where do you keep your ID?"  
  
Mac finally reached the street and stopped for a moment , undecided. A dark blue sedan screeched to a halt in front of her, she took an involuntary step backwards. The tinted window rolled down, revealing Clayton Webb. He gestured with his head towards the back door, "For God's sake, Mac, get in!"  
  
Vietnam Memorial  
Washington, DC  
1535 Local  
  
Captain Wendell looked up at the sky for a moment. As soon as he had spilled coffee on himself this morning, he knew it was going to be one of those days. He looked back at the two groups. The Feds (actually a joint task force of FBI and the NIS) were by far the more annoying of the two. They were milling around, alternately complaining and threatening the officers watching them. The other group stood quietly together, if he didn't know better, he'd swear they were feeling smug. The Captain had been a little surprised, they were mostly military (that didn't surprise him: in Washington, the majority of residents tended to be Federal employees or military) but they were fairly high-ranking. He had an admiral - and not just any admiral, but the Judge Advocate General himself - as well as two full commanders, a Marine Gunnery Sergeant... and a DC police lieutenant.  
  
Captain Wendell walked over to the military group. Indicating the admiral and the police lieutenant, he gestured for them to follow him. Walking to a spot where they wouldn't be overheard, he turned and faced the two men. "I've heard from Officer Hoskins and the federal agents. Now I'd like to hear your story."  
  
The two men looked at each other, then the admiral spoke, "May I ask what the Feds had to say?"  
  
Wendell looked at him for a long moment, considering the request, finally he said, "According to them, you aided and abetted in the escape of an officer from your command who is wanted for espionage and treason."  
  
"Well, they almost got it right," the admiral said. "She has been accused of espionage and treason. I suspect they forgot to mention that someone came damn close to killing her last Friday night?"  
  
Wendell's eyebrows rose in surprise, he shook his head. The admiral continued, "She was in the hospital, someone or something frightened her and she took off. This morning, I was finally able to make contact with her and convinced her to surrender to Lt. Fine." The admiral glanced at Fine, who nodded. "She was too scared to come to JAG headquarters, so we agreed to meet here. I asked some of her colleagues to run interference to make her feel safer. Everything was going smoothly, Lt . Fine had her in custody, when all these men showed up." He jerked a thumb at the Feds. "They didn't identify themselves and then they started waving guns around. We didn't know if these were the people that tried to kill her earlier, so we did our best to stop them while Lt. Fine got my officer to safety."  
  
Lt. Fine picked up the tale, "I'd almost gotten her clear, when two of them jumped us in the trees. She managed to get clear of the melee and bolted. I couldn't get free of those two to stop her. Apparently, that's when she ran into Officer Hoskins."  
  
"So now we're back to square one," the admiral stated bitterly, Captain Wendell could see he was becoming angry. "I don't know if she'll contact me again, and if she does, it's going to be damn hard convincing her to trust me a second time."  
  
The Captain grunted and then gestured for them to return to the group. Of the two, their story sounded much more plausible. It was hard to believe that the Judge Advocate General would be so blatant in breaking the law or be able talk a police lieutenant into doing the same. Eye witnesses had corroborated key points of their story. The Feds hadn't identified themselves and they had pulled their guns. That in itself really ticked him off. You don't do that in a crowd of civilians unless it's a last resort, this wasn't TV. He came to a decision, 'Screw the Feds. They'd messed up and they'd just have to live with it.' He motioned an officer over, "Tell the military boys and Lt. Fine they can go." The Feds were going to stay right here until he could talk with their superiors.  
  
Washington, DC  
1520 Local  
  
Clay glanced in the rearview mirror at Mac. She was partially collapsed across the backseat, ashen-faced. "Stay down, Mac. I have to make sure we're not being followed."  
  
"Not a problem." was the rather terse reply.  
  
There was a brief silence, while Clay weaved quickly and efficiently through the DC traffic. Mac spoke again, "Where are we going?"  
  
"To an unused safe house. I'll be the only one who knows you're there."  
  
"You know I can't stop?"  
  
"Yeah, I know. Take a break, we'll talk about it after we get to the house."  
  
Vietnam Memorial  
Washington, DC  
1542 Local  
  
Harm watched the Admiral and Lt. Fine talk to the police captain. With all the bumps and bruises, he was feeling better than he had in days. He'd spotted Bud and Harriet in the crowd of onlookers, they'd smiled and given him a thumbs-up. It meant Clay had gotten to Mac. She would be safe, at least for a while. With a little luck, maybe he could persuade Webb to let him visit her. Harm glanced over at Sturgis, who was standing at his shoulder. He was staring at the other group. "What?" Harm asked.  
  
Sturgis inclined his head towards the Feds, "I was wondering if any of them are our X-men?" He and Harm had begun referring to the Archangel operatives that way as they struggled to identify as much of the network as possible.  
  
Harm shrugged, "I'd give odds at least one is. Their names will be on the police report. James could probably get us a copy without attracting too much attention." He looked at Sturgis, "You realize there's a X-man at JAG?" 


	15. Part 15

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
Gaithersburg, MD  
1615 Local  
  
Clay turned off the car and hit the remote to close the garage doors. Twisting around in the seat, he looked in back. Mac had fallen asleep, she was going to have a crick in her neck. He called softly, "Mac? Wake up, we're here." He resisted the urge to touch her, one JAG-inflicted injury in his life was enough. "Mac," he said a little louder, "C'mon Colonel, get out of the car."  
  
"No." Mac cracked one eye open and shifted, her neck was killing her.  
  
Clay got out and opened the door to the backseat. "Can you get up?"  
  
"Yes... no. Damn."  
  
He braced himself and leaned in to give her a hand. Clay saw the blood on her side, 'oh hell', "Let's go, Marine." Together they managed to get her to a sitting position in the car doorway. Webb looked at her, "Ready?" Mac nodded, he hauled upward as she stood, bracing himself to take the weight. She was leaning heavily on him. "See? Not so hard," Clay smiled at her and got an exasperated shake of the head in return. They went into the house.  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
1720 Local  
  
Harm and Sturgis sat in the Admiral's office. Everyone else had gone home for the day. AJ looked at his two officers, they both were a little worse for wear following the afternoon's events. "Where are we on 'Archangel'?"  
  
Harm glanced at Sturgis, "It's been pretty slow going, sir, but we're making progress. We're pretty sure Admiral Jacobs..." he paused for a moment, knowing AJ and Charlie Jacobs were friends, "We think he's heading this whole thing, that he's 'Gabriel'.  
  
"Oh hell." AJ leaned back and then gestured for Harm to continue. He and Jacobs went back a long way, but that didn't blind him to what Charlie was capable of.  
  
"Yes sir. We know about Congressmen Stokes, Mitchell and Peterson and the Deputy Assistant SecDef. Of course, they are being blackmailed into participating, so they'll probably roll first chance they get. Thanks to Webb, we know Mark Aiken worked for Peterson. The other intruder was Harold Franklin, he was a resident special agent from the Silver Springs FBI office. He'd only been in the Bureau about five years."  
  
AJ grunted, "I'm surprised we're not up to our ears in FBI agents. They tend to swarm when it involves one of their own."  
  
Harm grinned, "They're swarming over at NIS, sir." The thought of Peterson dealing with arrogant, irate Federal agents (especially after today) amused him to no end. "I also had a quiet word with Special Agent Novak. I let him know we had no interest in appearing in the latest edition of the Washington Post and trashing the Bureau, so he's doing what he can to run interference for us."  
  
Sturgis added, "So far sir, we've identified operatives in all the offices of the Secretaries of the Navy, Army and Air Force. And, obviously, there are people in NIS and the FBI, Webb's doing a discreet check of the CIA. No one above middle management, mostly just high enough to keep track of key information. It's ingenious really, Archangel didn't recruit the top guys but rather the average person in the ranks who handled the logistics."  
  
The Admiral leaned forward and looked at them both, "We're almost to the point of assembling a task force?"  
  
Sturgis nodded, "We believe so, sir."   
  
"I think it's time to bring Bobbie Latham into the mix. We'll need her help when we start closing the net." AJ looked at Sturgis and smiled, "Isn't she meeting you for lunch tomorrow?"  
  
Harm did his best not to grin as he watched his friend's mouth open and close soundlessly. The shoe was on the other foot - and about damn time, too.  
  
Sturgis finally said, "I'll call her tonight sir, and set it up."  
  
Harm said, "There's one more thing, sir." He looked over at Sturgis and then back at AJ, "There's also an operative here at JAG."  
  
Gaithersburg, MD  
1810 Local  
  
Clay stuck his head in the bedroom door, "Mac? You want something to eat?" It had taken him close to an hour to get Mac cleaned up and squared away. The incident at the Wall had taken a lot out of her. He'd been as careful as he could while helping her get undressed. In the back of his head, a little voice was telling him Rabb was going to kill him when he found out. Finding the .32 and the knife had surprised the hell out of him, all Mac said was that it was a long story. The wound in her side had opened again, then the bleeding had stopped and congealed. He'd had a helluva time getting the clothing loose that had adhered to her side. He'd finally yanked it off, all the while apologizing profusely. Mac had just clenched her jaws and squeezed her eyes shut. She stayed upright until he replaced the dressings, then collapsed on the bed. He had covered her up and left her alone to rest.  
  
A touseled head came up out of the jumble of blankets and comforter and swiveled towards him. A sleepy voice said, "Sounds good, Clay, thank you." There was a brief pause, "Where are my clothes?"  
  
"Uh, they were pretty much of a mess, I got rid of them. There's some sweats on the dresser to your left, the door leads to the bathroom. Do you need any help?" Clay wavered between possible hope and probable Death by Rabb.  
  
"Don't think so, thanks anyway."   
  
Clay retreated to the kitchen and busied himself setting the table and serving up dinner. He looked up to see Mac leaning against the wall in the doorway. She was smiling at him. "What?" he asked a little defensively.  
  
"You saved my life. Thank you."  
  
He glanced away for a moment, embarrassed. "It wasn't just me."  
  
"I know, but you're here right now, so - thank you."  
  
"You're welcome. Sit down, the food's getting cold." They ate in companionable silence. When they had both finished, Clay said, "I think you ought to go back to bed. We can talk everything over in the morning." That she acquiesced without a fight, told him how tired she was. He gave her about five minutes and then walked back to the bedroom. Clay tapped lightly on the door and then opened it when he heard 'Enter'. Mac was sitting on the side of the bed. Clay said, "Just checking. I'll keep an ear out - if you need anything, yell. Good night Mac."  
  
"'Night, Clay."  
  
Webb went back into the living room and sat down. The pieces were falling into place, he had to get together with the Admiral and Rabb. They needed a plan and quickly. Clay knew from experience that this type of case was like riding an avalanche. It moved with frightening speed and was about as easy to control. All you could do was try to cover all the bases and ride it out. Jacobs was a wily old bastard, they'd have to pull out all the stops to catch him. A misstep would see him walk free and, in all likelihood, result in the Mac's death. Webb pulled out his cellphone.  
  
Gaithersburg, MD  
0120 Local  
  
Mac came slowly awake, unsure for a minute where she was. Something had roused her, what was it? Suddenly, she tensed; there was someone in her room. 'Damn! Where was Webb?' She kept perfectly still, trying to formulate some plan of action, when she heard that sound again. It was... a snore? Cautiously, she raised her head. There was Harmon Rabb, Jr., sprawled in a chair, head back and mouth open. Mac didn't know if she was going to laugh or cry. He'd scared her out of a year's growth just now. 'Well,' Mac thought wryly, 'considering the last few days, she was well on her way to becoming the world's shortest Marine.' She sat up and hissed, "Harm!"  
  
He came awake with a start, looking around the room wildly, trying to identify the threat. His gaze finally settled on the figure sitting upright on the bed, "Mac!" He lurched out of the chair and all but fell onto the bed. After today's... yesterday's, he corrected himself... activities, he'd stiffened up. He hit hard enough to make them both bounce. He heard Mac's sharp gasp and exasperated whisper, "For God's sake, Harm! There's enough people trying to kill me..."  
  
"Oh God, Mac. I'm sorry," he saw her staring at him with a small, silly smile on her face. 'It must be contagious.' Harm thought vaguely, as the same silly smile appeared on his face.  
  
"You have no idea how good it is to see..." Mac suddenly found herself talking to his chest as Harm enveloped her in a hug. Her voice trailed off and she leaned against him, content to be held.  
  
Harm sat there, he'd forgotten how neatly she fit against him, her head tucked under his chin. He'd been so scared when she disappeared, knowing she was being hunted. What had surprised him was the depth of his anger at the people who had hurt her. He tensed just thinking about it, and felt Mac shift. She leaned back a little to look at him, "Harm?"  
  
"It's nothing." She continued to look at him. 'Damn, how does she do that?' Harm thought as he found himself saying, "You've scared the hell out of me these last few days, Marine."  
  
She chuckled softly, "Hasn't done much for me either, Navy." They looked at each other for a moment, then Mac said, "Help me up."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Help me up. I'm hungry." Mac tapped imperiously on his arm.  
  
Harm rolled his eyes, "Now I know you're on the mend." Nevertheless, he quickly positioned himself to give her a hand. "Didn't Webb feed you?"  
  
Mac swayed a little as she regained her feet. He put a steadying hand under her elbow. "That was six hours and thirteen minutes ago." She started for the door, Harm right beside her, and they headed for the kitchen.  
  
The Admiral and Clay, seated at the kitchen table, looked up to see Rabb and MacKenzie standing in the doorway. They watched Mac give Harm a look that clearly said, 'You could've warned me.' Shrugging free of his hand, she started to come to attention. "As you were, Colonel." AJ said quickly. "We're here unofficially." He stood up and offered Mac his chair. "It's good to see you in one piece. What are you doing up?"  
  
"Hungry." Harm said laconically.  
  
The other two men chuckled and then AJ said, "Well, don't just stand there, Commander. Feed her."  
  
"Aye, aye sir."  
  
Mac watched Harm move about the kitchen for a moment, and then looked at the Admiral, "Not that I'm not glad to see you, but why are you both here?"  
  
"I called them, Mac." Clay said. "Everything's coming to a head, we need to make plans."  
  
"Wouldn't JAG HQ have been better?"  
  
"Maybe, except that Archangel has someone in place over there," said AJ, clearly irritated that one of his people was involved on the other side. He looked at Mac, "Any ideas?"  
  
"Well..."  
  
"Singer." Harm tossed over his shoulder, as he put the finishing touches on a stack of sandwiches.  
  
"Be serious, Harm," Mac said with a fond smile, she looked at AJ, "Singer may be obnoxious and ruthlessly ambitious - and personally, I think she'd happily push me in front of a bus if she thought she could get away with it. But, something like this? No."  
  
"Sturgis and I have found that Archangel tends to recruit from lower down the food chain. Not someone in charge, but someone to whom you'd delegate work." Harm said as he set down a plateful of sandwiches. He went to the fridge and pulled out a couple bottles of water, raising his eyebrows at Clay and the Admiral. They shook their heads no and Harm came back and sat down. He gave Mac a small amused smile as he watched her dig in. She arched an eyebrow in return, but didn't stop eating.  
  
"Like Harriet and Tiner." Webb said. He saw the looks of disbelief and held up his hands, "Not them, per se, but someone at that level."  
  
"Or someone who's part of security..." AJ said thoughtfully.  
  
"Gunny Walters?" Harm asked.  
  
"No." Mac said flatly.  
  
"It'd be pretty ingenious on his part..." Clay said.  
  
"Look," Mac said in an exasperated tone, "Not only did he keep them from killing me, he kept them from finding out where the CD was hidden. Why the hell would he do that if he was part of the group?"  
  
The three men were silent, then Harm cleared his throat, "Umm, Mac?"  
  
"What?" She was still annoyed.  
  
"Sturgis mentioned that in the hospital, you told the Gunny you'd discuss his hostage techniques with him later. He said Walters looked... well... nervous." Although he was watching Mac, Harm could see the surprise on AJ and Webb's faces.  
  
"Oh?" Mac ran a hand through her hair, "Well, when Gunny made his move, he shot the fake corporal first. The other one hauled me up in front of him as a shield. He stuck a gun up under my jaw and told Gunny to drop his weapon or he'd kill me." She paused and looked at the three men waiting expectantly, "Gunny told him to go ahead: officers were a pain in the ass and he was going to blow the guy's brains out either way. The jerk was so surprised that I managed to knock him off-balance and then Gunny grabbed him. And... I wound up with a round in my side instead of my head." Mac smiled dryly, "Not exactly textbook."  
  
"Nooo." Harm said faintly. The report he'd read had been a little more cut and dried, he'd had no idea...  
  
"Gentlemen... Colonel." Webb decided it was time to get back on track, "We're running out of time and we need to put something together. We'll just have to work around the mole for now. At least we know it's there."  
  
They worked until almost dawn, hammering out the details. Then Clay got ready to take Harm and the Admiral back to the Gaithersburg municipal airport where they'd parked Harm's Stearman. Just before they left, AJ and Webb wandered out, giving Harm and Mac a little privacy to say goodbye. He wrapped his arms around her again and they stood for moment. Finally, Mac said, "You flew up here?" She didn't want to think about what was coming, not yet anyway.  
  
"Yeah," Harm said, "It seemed the safest thing to do. No flight plan and a hundred different places to land, they'd have a tough time following us." He looked down at her. He knew she was worried, probably scared too. Hell, he was. "We'll get through this, Sarah." Harm smiled, "You owe me a drive in the country."  
  
Mac laughed in spite of herself, "You... " She looked up at him and then he was kissing her. It seemed so natural... The sound of a throat clearing broke them apart, they looked over to see the Admiral looking up at the ceiling, hands clasped behind his back. He glanced over, "Time to go, Rabb."  
  
Harm walked to the door and paused, looking back at AJ questioningly. The Admiral hadn't moved yet, "Give me a moment, Commander." Harm nodded and went out. AJ looked over at Mac, he wasn't a demonstrative man so this was difficult. "Mac... Sarah... I just want you to know I'm damn proud of the way you've handled yourself through all this." He grinned, "You could almost change my mind about women SEALs."  
  
"Almost, sir?" Mac smiled.  
  
"Almost," he said firmly. He continued in a brisker tone, "When this is over, I expect to see my Chief of Staff back at work. The place is a madhouse."  
  
"Yes sir." Mac said and hesitated, "Sir? Permission to hug the Admiral?"  
  
AJ looked at her in surprise and then said gruffly, "Granted." He opened his arms as she stepped in. He held her for a moment and said softly, "Take care, darlin'. Remember we won't be far away." Then he turned around and marched out of the room. 


	16. Part 16

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
1115 Local  
  
PO Tiner sat at his desk, organizing folders to file. It was turning into a pretty good day. The Admiral had actually smiled when he came in this morning. He had assembled the office staff, told them that Colonel MacKenzie had been in contact and everything would shortly be straightened out. He even thanked them for their patience and dedication. Jason smiled, the only unhappy one was probably Lt. Singer. He'd have bet money she had her personal items boxed up and ready to move into the Colonel's office. Commander Rabb had called in to say he was headed to Norfolk to interview a client, he sounded happier, too.  
  
There was that rumor about the Admiral being involved in the near riot at the Vietnam Memorial yesterday afternoon. Apparently the news coverage wasn't very clear. Tiner thought about it and then shook his head. Nah, if the Admiral had been detained by the police, yesterday would have seemed like a walk in the park compared to today. Jason tensed when he saw Congresswoman Latham enter the bullpen and breathed a sigh of relief when she went past the Admiral's office. Yes, today was going to be perfect.  
  
Bobbie and Sturgis entered the bullpen just as AJ came out of his office, coffee mug in hand. He smiled, "Congresswoman, it's good to see you. I take it you and Commander Turner are off to lunch?"  
  
"Yes we are. It's good to see you too, Admiral. Cmdr. Turner was just telliing me about the break-in last Friday, is Mac going to be okay?"  
  
"Yes, I believe so. We're keeping her in a safe location, at least until we can locate the escaped prisoner that tried to kill her."  
  
"Admiral, we have a problem." Clayton Webb stood in the entryway to the bullpen. At his desk, Tiner's eyes widened, 'oh no!'  
  
"Webb?" AJ turned towards the CIA operative in surprise, "You're supposed to be keeping an eye on the Colonel."  
  
"That's just it, Admiral. She's gone." Webb scrubbed a hand through his hair. The entire bullpen had gone silent.  
  
"Gone? What do you mean gone? What the hell happened?!" AJ took a step towards Clay.  
  
"She took off. I thought she'd gone back to her room to lay down. When I went in to check on her an hour later, she was gone. The bedroom window was open." Webb spread his hands, "How could I have known?"  
  
"What aren't you telling me, Webb?" AJ's voice had gotten dangerously soft.  
  
Webb hesitated a moment, "She didn't know about the charges against her or her place being ransacked. When I told her, she just went ballistic. Said she'd had enough and she was going to finish this, once and for all. I thought I'd managed to calm her down. I guess I was wrong."  
  
"You guess? You... Guess?!" The Admiral advanced on Webb, who took a nervous step backward.  
  
"Admiral!" Sturgis' low, urgent tone cut through the tension. The office staff was frozen in place. Both men blinked, finally aware they had an audience.  
  
AJ glared at Webb and then glanced at Sturgis and a wide-eyed Bobbie Latham. "My office. Now." He turned around and headed back to his office with long, angry strides.  
  
NIS  
1217 Local  
  
Charlie Jacobs looked at the blinking light on his phone. His yeoman had told him who was on the line, he was trying to decide how to handle it. Finally, he punched another button on his intercom, "Phillips, there's a call on line three, I need a trace." He listened for a moment, "Thank you."  
  
Then he picked up his phone, "Colonel MacKenzie, this is a surprise."  
  
"Is it? You and I need to have a talk."  
  
"Certainly. Why don't you come in?"  
  
"I don't think so. My health has been precarious enough lately."  
  
"I don't know what you mean."  
  
There was a sigh. "If this is the way you want to play this, fine. Just remember my patience is precarious, too. She hung up.  
  
Jacobs sat for a moment in thought, then he punched the intercom, "Well?"  
  
"Not quite long enough for a precise location, but we'll have a general vicinity in another couple of minutes, sir."  
  
"No, don't bother. Thank you." Jacobs sat and considered. Thanks to his source, he'd already heard about the blow-up at JAG. Now this. He wouldn't accept anything at face value, Webb was a devious son of a bitch. AJ could be just as cunning. He reviewed the conversation, MacKenzie had sounded... determined? There was a slight edge to her voice, could have been anger... could have been fear. He noticed she had dispensed with military courtesy, talking to him as an equal. He could just wait and see what developed, despite the oblique warning not to string her along. Did she actually have the evidence? That was the key. Jacobs pulled out his cellphone, he had some things to set in motion.  
  
Washington, DC  
1222 Local  
  
The metro bus pulled into its stop and the slender brunette got off. After scanning the area, she started walking up the street. Nerves taut, she resisted the urge to continually glance over her shoulder. 'Suck it up, Marine.' Mac thought to herself, 'The final round of this game is just beginning.' She had picked the phone location and timed the call to coincide with the metro's regular stop. Thirty seconds after she'd hung up, she was sitting on the bus on her way out of the area.  
  
Eighty-two minutes later, Mac walked in to her hotel room. Carefully locking the door behind her, she turned and jumped at the sight of a man standing in the doorway of the bathroom.  
  
"I'm sorry, Sarah. Did you forget I would be here?" James asked, smiling.  
  
Mac leaned against the wall, slightly breathless, "I thought Harm had the first watch."  
  
"We traded. He said something about spending the night with you... " James raised his eyebrows innocently.  
  
"You can stop right there, Lieutenant." Mac fixed him with a mock glare, "... Or I'll call and tell your mother that you're being mean to me."  
  
James raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, you win." He turned serious, "So, how did it go?"  
  
Mac settled on the bed and then carefully shifted until her back was against the wall. Her side still hurt. She looked over at James, "I'm not sure. I've given him something to think about. He's being cagey as hell." She ran a hand through her hair. For a brief moment James saw strain and fear chase across her face, then the mask dropped back into place. "I hate waiting, but letting Jacobs stew is probably the best thing." She looked at James and smiled, "How's your poker?"  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
1310 Local  
  
Tiner stood up as Congresswoman Latham and Commander Turner exited the Admiral's office. Webb had left over half an hour ago. Jason had been both relieved and surprised not to see any blood on him. The story of the Admiral breaking Webb's nose several years ago had settled into office legend. Now, depending upon one's feelings about the CIA, every visit of Webb was looked upon with apprehension or anticipation. Tiner walked to the doorway and looked in. The Admiral was standing with his back to him, gazing out the window.  
  
"Sir? Can I get you anything?" Despite the inherent danger of working for a retired SEAL (everyone knew you had to be a little bit crazy to become a SEAL... ), Jason liked Admiral Chegwidden. He knew the Admiral felt responsible for all those under his command, it had been a tough week for him.  
  
"No thank you, Tiner."  
  
Jason hesitated and then said, "I'm sure the Colonel will be okay, sir. She is a Marine."  
  
The Admiral turned and looked at him, Jason stiffened. Then AJ smiled and said, "I'm sure you're right. Thank you, Tiner. Close the door on your way out."  
  
AJ watched until the door had shut and then turned back to the window. The plan was in motion and all they could do was wait. They had tried to cover every contingency, but AJ knew from experience how fluid the situation could become. At least Bobbie Latham was on board - after the initial, obligatory grumbling about not being in the loop from the first. AJ smiled, he had no doubts Sturgis was going to get it with both barrels as soon as she could get him alone.  
  
NIS  
1710 Local  
  
Admiral Jacobs looked up as Inspector Peterson bustled into the room. He was holding a small cassette player. "Admiral! Our wiretap finally picked up something interesting. I think you should hear it." With a flourish, he placed it on Jacobs' desk and pressed 'play':  
  
"Admiral, Colonel MacKenzie's on line two."  
  
"Colonel! Where are you? Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine, Admiral."  
  
"Mac, you need to come back in. We have to deal with this situation. Whoever's trying to kill you is still out there."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me about the charges, sir?"  
  
Jacobs and Peterson heard Admiral Chegwidden sigh, "Mac, none of your friends believe any of those charges are true, but running away is making you look guilty."  
  
"It will still go to court, won't it sir?"  
  
"... Probably."  
  
There was a bitter laugh, "So essentially my career is finished. Even if I'm acquitted, those charges will be on my permanent record. I'll never make it past another promotions board."  
  
"Mac, your life is more important. Come in, we can protect you while we figure this thing out."  
  
"Right now, you're batting .500 in the protection department, sir. You're lucky Webb turned up in the right place. I don't know if I can chance it. Given enough opportunities, even an idiot like Inspector Peterson might get it right. I don't want to be in NIS custody."  
  
"Colonel, I could order you to come in."  
  
"Don't - I have to go. I need to consider what's best for me. I'll contact you again, sir."  
  
The tape ended. Jacobs looked at Peterson thoughtfully, "I assume you put a trace on the call?"  
  
"Yes sir, it was a payphone. No one was there by the time we got to it."  
  
Jacobs gazed at him for so long, the inspector began to fidget nervously. Finally the Admiral said, "Yes, that would follow, wouldn't it? ... Thank you Inspector, you may go."  
  
Washington, DC  
1820 Local  
  
Harm stepped into the hotel room and quickly closed the door. He turned around and looked at the two people sitting on the bed. "You two are playing again? What are the stakes this time?"  
  
"Washington." Mac glanced at a legal pad, "So far I've got the Dept. of Defense, the Smithsonian and the Jefferson Memorial. James just won the White House." She sniffed the air, "Dinner?"  
  
Harm held up three large bags, "Greasy, heart-clogging burgers with the works for you two, salad for me." He looked at Mac, "How did the conversation with the Admiral go?"  
  
Mac grimaced a little and then said, "Fine."  
  
Harm's eyebrows lowered, he looked over at James, "What isn't she telling me?"  
  
James glanced at Mac and then shifted his attention to Harm, "She was on the phone longer than thirty seconds. Those NIS agents missed her by about a minute, scared the hell out of me. They must have been in the area."  
  
Harm's eyes widened in consternation, Mac held up a hand, "Don't start, I was far enough away and I'm being as careful as I can." She smiled, "At least this time, I have back-up."  
  
Harm sat down in the room's only chair, grumbling. "I'll be glad when this is over." He was well aware that Mac, of all people, knew exactly what risks she was taking and why, he just didn't have to like it. He watched the two dig into their food, the stress was beginning to get to her. He knew Mac well enough to pick up on that. It was one of the reasons Harm wanted to be here tonight. He'd been with her in all kinds of situations, if she started coming apart - he'd be there to get her through. The race to bring Archangel down wasn't the only one Mac was involved in. He glanced up and saw her watching him, she arched an eyebrow. He raised both hands in mock surrender and pulled out his salad.  
  
James sat and watched the byplay. He wondered about their relationship. (He'd mentioned his curiousity to Webb and gotten a laconic "Aren't we all?" in return.) Obviously, they were best friends and knew each other well. He just couldn't decide if they were involved. He felt he knew Mac better than the tall commander, having spent more time with her - and listening to his mother's keen observations. They seemed well-matched. James was pretty sure a lesser man would have a tough time dealing with the iron-willed Marine Colonel. He gave himself a mental shake and glanced at his watch. "Hey Sarah, what time is it?"  
  
Mac looked over at him and grinned, "1832." It had become a kind of game with them. Emma had evidently told James about her internal clock. He'd taken to pouncing at unexpected moments, she hadn't missed yet.  
  
"Time to go." James stood up, gathering the trash from dinner. He headed for the door and then looked back, "You children be good, I'll see you in the morning." He left. 


	17. Part 17

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
Washington, DC  
0840 Local  
  
Harm looked up at a tap on the door. A moment later, James stuck his head, "Everybody decent?"  
  
Harm rolled his eyes and motioned James in. He continued talking on the cellphone, "Yeah Clay, he just got here." He looked at the items James was carrying and noticed the questioning look on his face. Harm gestured with his head towards the bathroom. "Yes, it looks like he has everything. You figure it's going to happen today? Uh-huh... look Clay, we've got all the angles covered, don't we? Yes, I realize that... Dammit, I just don't want anything to go wrong... All right, okay, fine... " Harm took the phone away from his ear and looked at it, Webb had hung up on him.   
  
James moved further into the room and listened, he could hear the shower running. He dumped most of the items on the bed and turned back in time to see Harm staring at the phone. He looked at James, "He hung up on me."  
  
James shrugged and held up a bag, "Breakfast. Egg and cheese biscuit for you, bacon, egg and cheese biscuits for me and the Colonel. There's coffee in there too." They both turned towards the bathroom when they heard the door open.  
  
Mac stood in the doorway, fastening her robe, her hair was still wet. "That felt good. Harm, I'm going to need some help putting the dressings..." Her voice trailed off as she looked up. "Oops. Morning, James. Ooo, breakfast? Tell me you brought coffee." She was pulling a cup out when she looked up and saw the bemused looks on both men. "What?"  
  
"Ummm... " James made a vague gesture towards the bathrobe. Webb had gotten the hotel room and had also supplied a wardrobe for Mac. The robe was silk and on the Colonel, the effect was... well... breathtaking. His fiancee would have grounds for justifiable homicide. "Are you always... "  
  
"Such an exhibitionist?" Mac's voice was growing colder, Harm cringed a little - he knew that tone.  
  
He jumped in, as much to protect Mac from herself as to rescue James. She was teetering on the edge of an incredible explosion of temper and he knew it was because of the unrelenting stress she'd been under. He pasted a small smile on his face and said mildly, "I think the phrase he was looking for was 'so spectacular.'" He didn't flinch when she turned to glare at him. He was a fighter pilot, he'd faced worse... maybe.  
  
The silence stretched out, when Mac smiled. The whole tableau had finally triggered her sense of the ridiculous. 'Men.' That seemed to cover it. She crossed her arms and eyed them both, "Spectacular?"  
  
"Stupendous?" "Incredible?" Both men were grinning now, apparently they weren't going to die.  
  
Mac shook her head, "You jerks. Now my breakfast is getting cold." She sailed between them, snagged her coffee and food and perched on the chair. "What did Webb have to say?"  
  
"He said the mice have been nibbling." Harm said.  
  
James looked at them, "I don't do spyspeak. What exactly does that mean?"  
  
"Jacobs has put his operatives in motion to try and confirm the story we're selling." Mac replied. Suddenly, she wasn't that hungry. She looked over at Harm, "He thinks it's going to go down soon?"  
  
"Depends on your next conversation with Jacobs. If things work out, it could happen today." Harm looked at the floor. 'If things work out... goddammit, he didn't want it to work at all, but they had no choice. For two cents, he'd walk into Jacobs' office and blow his damn head off. That would end it.' Harm became aware that Mac was speaking to him. He looked up to see them both watching him.  
  
"... Harm? It'll be okay," Mac regarded him worriedly, then her expression changed and with a sideways glance, she said, "Besides, I have you and James watching my six... "  
  
James suddenly erupted in a fit of coughing. Mac got up and pounded on his back solicitously, "Something go down the wrong way?"  
  
He glared at her, unable to speak for the moment. Finally he managed to croak in an outraged tone, "I think coffee came out my nose!"  
  
"That's more than I wanted to know." Mac looked over at Harm, "I'm going to get dressed. I will need some help with the bandages. I'll yell when I'm ready."  
  
James glared at Harm as he continued to wipe his face with a napkin. Harm shrugged, "You started it."  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
0920 Local  
  
AJ looked at Sturgis, "Well?"  
  
"It seems to be working, sir. A kind of ripple effect, if you will. Webb has identified seven more operatives. He's coming in this morning." Sturgis hesitated, "He says he knows who the mole is here at JAG."  
  
AJ leaned forward, "Who?"  
  
"He wouldn't say, sir." Sturgis sighed, "He doesn't want to tip his hand, he thinks this whole thing is going to come to a head today."  
  
Chegwidden rubbed the back of his neck, "I hope we get enough lead time to get into position. I'd like to get Mac through this in one piece." He looked at Sturgis and smiled, "Bobbie ready to go?"  
  
Sturgis winced in spite of himself, Bobbie had had a number of things to say to him after meeting with the Admiral yesterday, "Oh yes, sir. I assume I'll be acting as her liaison for JAG?"  
  
"Wouldn't have it any other way, Commander."  
  
Tiner looked up and watched Clayton Webb stride towards the Admiral's office. He didn't bother trying to stop the CIA operative. The day was about to go downhill, he would just accept the inevitable. He hadn't thought yesterday could get much worse after Webb had broken the news about the Colonel, but then Commander Rabb had returned from Norfolk. Admiral Chegwidden had called him into his office. Five minutes later, the bullpen was startled to hear yelling. They couldn't make out the words but it didn't sound good. Then there'd been an ominous minute or two of silence. Rabb came out the Admiral's office like he'd just been launched off a carrier. He had gone to his office, collected his cover and briefcase and walked out without a word to anyone. Admiral Chegwidden had stuck his head out of the office and told Tiner that Rabb was on leave for the next several days. The look on his face precluded any answer but 'Yes Sir.'   
  
Now here was Webb again...  
  
AJ and Sturgis turned and looked as Webb walked into the office. "Don't you knock?" AJ asked.  
  
"Ordinarily yes, but Tiner is looking more and more like a deer caught in the headlights. I couldn't resist." Clay smiled, "When this is over, you're going to have a helluva time making it up to him."  
  
"I know, I know," AJ growled. "Maybe I'll just make him an admiral, then he can run this asylum."  
  
"God, Admiral." Clay said, still smiling, "I thought you liked him... "  
  
AJ snorted in amusement, shaking his head. He grew serious as he looked over at Webb. "You think it's all coming together today?"  
  
Webb nodded, "It depends on how Jacobs reacts to this next conversation. Mac's going to try to push him into moving, one way or another."  
  
"Isn't that dangerous?" Sturgis asked. "You could be forcing him to become unpredictable."  
  
Clay looked at him, "It's a calculated risk." He turned back to the Admiral, "I've contacted the DC police about the meeting site. They'll have it wired for sound and have people stationed throughout the area. I told them it was a drug smuggling bust with possible ties to the Middle East."  
  
"The rest of us are the contingency plan?" AJ asked. After Webb nodded, the Admiral continued, "How is Mac getting to the site?"  
  
Clay looked uncomfortable, this was a potential weak point. "She's going to have to get there on her own. He's going to be watching the approaches. We can't afford to compromise the set-up by helping her get to the site or having people too obviously shadowing her."  
  
"She's going to be vulnerable as hell on her way there, Webb." AJ pointed out with a scowl.  
  
"It won't be as bad as that, Harm and Lt. Fine won't be far away." Webb mentally crossed his fingers and hoped this would satisfy the Admiral. He'd taken some additional measures as well but he was a cautious man. He'd only discussed it with Mac. She was walking into this with her eyes open because she trusted him. It was an uncomfortable feeling.  
  
Admiral Chegwidden sighed, "When is this thing with Charlie taking place?"  
  
Clay looked at his watch, "Anytime, actually." He reached into one of his coat pockets and pulled out a small transmitter. Turning it on, he set it on AJ's desk. "We... adapted... a payphone for this call. It will just about quadruple the time needed to get a trace on the phone's location. And," he smiled smugly, "we can hear the conversation."  
  
They sat and stared at the transmitter until AJ started to feel silly, "Webb... " He stopped when the sound of a phone ringing came over the small speaker.  
  
"Admiral Jacobs' office, Petty Officer Danzer speaking."  
  
"This is Col. MacKenzie, I need to speak with the Admiral."  
  
"Yes Ma'am, one moment please."  
  
"Colonel, I was hoping to hear from you."  
  
"Were you? It's time to fish or cut bait, Admiral."  
  
"I don't know what you mean... May I call you Sarah?"  
  
"No. All right Admiral, in that case, my next call is to Admiral Chegwidden. I'm sure he'll be interested."  
  
"Now let's not be hasty, Colonel. Hypothetically speaking, if you had information I might need, what were you thinking would be a fair exchange?"  
  
"How about what I'm already accused of? Give me the bank account number and authorization to the half million dollars. Do it now and when I return your 'property', you can add another half million."  
  
Jacobs chuckled, "You're not shy, are you?"  
  
"Why should I be? You've wrecked my career, I'll probably be disbarred as well. Not to mention a possible stay in a lovely Federal facility. I prefer a quiet retirement in the islands."  
  
Jacobs was silent a moment, "Okay, if this were theoretically possible, how would I acquire the 'property'?"  
  
"There's an abandoned warehouse at the edge of the industrial district." She gave him the address. "Meet me there at 1530 today. Come alone."  
  
"I don't think so, Colonel. For all I know, this could be an elaborate plot to frame me and get you off the hook."  
  
There was silence for a moment and then Mac laughed, "Well, you're partially right. The place is wired from top to bottom and I'd be surprised if you could swing a stick and not hit a DC policeman."  
  
AJ, Sturgis and Webb looked at each other, thunderstruck. "What the hell is she doing?!" AJ exclaimed. Webb motioned him for silence. Jacobs was speaking again.  
  
He was clearly taken aback. "That's... ummm... rather forthright of you, Colonel. What are you hoping to accomplish?"  
  
"I'm cutting to the chase, Admiral. I've made a deal with the police to surrender. I will be calling Admiral Chegwidden next. You're both clever men; first one to reach me gets the prize. You and I both know what you're capable of and I'm sure you're aware of the consequences if it's Chegwidden. I won't be the only one going down." Mac hung up. 


	18. Part 18

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
Washington, DC  
1240 Local  
  
Mac quietly slipped into the hotel room. She stood for a moment with her back to the room after locking the door. Finally she turned around to see Harm silently staring at her. "I assume Webb's little device worked?" she ventured with a slight smile. She watched him take an angry step forward and braced herself.  
  
"Are you out of your mind?? What the hell were you thinking?!" Harm glared at her, his voice tightly controlled and intense.  
  
"I'm doing what I have to do, goddammit!," Mac flared. She was suddenly so angry, she was shaking. "I'm going to finish this. Today. I cannot... I will not... go another day waiting for them to find me!"   
  
Seemingly of its own accord, her hand had crept up to press against her side. For some reason, the gesture totally deflated Harm. He sighed and spread his hands, "Look, Mac... "  
  
Mac shook her head, "Don't." She looked at him, "Get out."  
  
He looked at her in surprise. "Mac... Sarah... "  
  
Mac stared back at him, "Give me an hour, just leave me the hell alone." She waited silently until he left the room, then went over to the bed and sank down. Snagging a pillow, she hugged it to herself. She hadn't been kidding when she told Harm she couldn't go another day. Mac felt like she was ready to shatter into a million pieces. She was probably on the verge of giving herself a stroke. Dammit, didn't he see that she was only doing what was necessary? Although, to be fair, Mac knew he was reacting to his fear for her. Still, she'd also known from the beginning that Jacobs would never let himself be caught on ground of her choosing. She'd gone ahead and tried anyway, of course. As far as Mac was concerned, all she'd done was confirm that he would try to get to her before she was anywhere near the warehouse. ... Dear god, she hoped she was ready for what was coming. Mac leaned back, closed her eyes and let the thoughts chase around in her head.  
  
As James entered the hallway, he saw a figure sitting against the door of their room. He hurried his pace until he was close enough to see it was Harm. He stopped in front of him and said, "What did you do to tick her off?"  
  
Harm looked up with a frustrated expression, "Let's see, I gave Mac about five seconds before I jumped on her with both feet for that stunt she pulled with Jacobs." He glanced away angrily, "I am such an idiot! I know she's teetering right on the edge from the stress, so what do I do? Give her a little shove."  
  
James said, "C'mon, it's probably not as bad as you think." He smiled, "You are still alive, you know."  
  
Harm gave him a look.  
  
"Okay, okay." James decided to try another tack, "Did she throw you out permanently or for a specified time?"  
  
"She told me to give her an hour."  
  
"There, see? That's not so bad. When Angie's mad at me, I don't get to grovel back until the next day."  
  
"Grovel?" Harm began to smile.  
  
James settled down next to Harm, "Of course, 'grovel'. Boy, don't you know anything about women? Half the time, I have no idea what I've done. We'll be having a discussion and all of the sudden, BAM, I get this loud sigh and a 'Fine'."  
  
Harm chuckled, "Let me guess, you ask what's wrong and get 'Nothing.'  
  
"Oh yeah," James said, "Right about then I figure it's time to grovel. It saves a lot of wear and tear on the braincells. It would be a lot easier if they came with a manual."  
  
"Or a dictionary." The sound of the door unlocking, sent both men scrambling to their feet.  
  
A subdued Sarah MacKenzie stood in the doorway, "It's been an hour. Thanks. You can come back in." They followed her back into the room.  
  
"Harm, I'm sorry about losing my temper... "  
  
"Mac, I didn't mean to jump all over you..."  
  
They both spoke at the same time and then smiled at each other. Harm stuck out a hand, "Truce?"  
  
Mac shook it in agreement, "Truce."  
  
"Well, now that that's straightened out, shouldn't we be getting ready?" James asked. The two officers nodded and got to work.  
  
Industrial District  
Washington, DC  
1440 Local  
  
Mac got off the bus and scanned the area. The Metro CityWorks van was about halfway up the block. Harm and James would be using it to keep an eye on her. She was about six blocks from the warehouse. Mac took a deep breath to try and calm the butterflies in her stomach and started walking. She didn't know where anyone else was, she hoped they were close.  
  
After walking two blocks, she turned south down a side street. There weren't a lot of people around, a garbage truck was collecting trash and a post office vehicle was parked halfway down. The CityWorks van rumbled past her and stopped at the corner. A tall man got out and looked at the storm sewer. The trash truck continued to work its way up the street as Mac kept walking. She tensed when she saw two men come out of a building and walk towards the mailtruck.  
  
Suddenly, she stumbled against a garbage can. Struggling to keep upright, she saw the trashman advance towards her. Mac took a step backward and turned around into a right cross from the driver who had come up behind her. She dropped like she'd been poleaxed. In a fluid motion, one man threw her into the back of the garbage truck while the other emptied a trashcan over her limp body. They continued to make their way up the street. It had taken less than ten seconds.  
  
Harm swept a casual glance up the street. He tensed and took another, longer look. Where was Mac?! He spoke to the hidden mike on his uniform, "James! Can you see Mac?"  
  
"Negative."  
  
Harm stared up the street again. The garbage truck was still collecting trash. Then he saw a man sprint around to the driver's side of the postal truck and get in. A moment later, it roared up the street. 'Oh God!' Harm turned and raced back to the van, "James! The mailtruck!"  
  
He threw himself into the passenger side as James backed up and then floored it up the street. When they got to the intersection, Harm pointed, "They went left!" They roared along the road, Harm looking anxiously, Where the hell was it? There! "Up ahead, James! They've turned right!"  
  
James said grimly, "I'm on it." They were slowly closing the gap. Suddenly, the truck leaped the curb and careened into a vacant lot. It slewed to a halt in a shower of dirt and gravel. Two men jumped out and ran. James skidded to a halt as Harm flung himself at the truck. He yanked open the back door. There were several large mail sacks inside. He pried each one open, growing more frantic with every failure. White-faced, he looked at James. "A decoy... Goddammit! The garbage truck!!" They flew back to the side street, the garbage truck was nowhere to be seen.  
  
Undisclosed Location  
Washington, DC  
1520 Local  
  
Mac slowly came awake. She was tied securely to a chair, blindfolded and gagged. The dizzy, slightly nauseous feeling probably meant she'd been drugged. Her nose wrinkled at the smell, they must have thrown her in the garbage truck. The side of her head throbbed where the fist had connected. She tensed when she heard several people walk towards her. From the echoes, she thought she was in a large, high-ceiling room. A warehouse? Admiral Jacobs' voice focused her attention.  
  
"Ahhh, Colonel. I see you're awake. I imagine you're wondering why you're gagged? Makes it a little hard to answer questions, doesn't it?"  
  
He was circling as he talked, Mac tried to keep track of where he was. She jumped and gave a muffled yelp when she received a sharp rap across her shoulders. It felt like a nightstick.  
  
The Admiral continued talking, "I understand you're rather stubborn. So, I thought first, perhaps, we would have a little attitude adjustment period." While he had been talking, someone had hit her across a forearm and jabbed her hard in the ribs. She was beginning to feel panicked. There was no rhythm or pattern, she couldn't tell where or when they would hit next.  
  
"Do you know the problem with beating someone?" He sounded like he was giving a lecture to the middies. She was thumped across a leg. "It's usually done so badly. The recipient gets hit so hard and so often, it all just runs together." The blow to her injured arm sent a jolt all the way through her. "Eventually, they just get numb and you lose all the benefit of beating them in the first place." She tensed, nothing happened. "Now you will get to appreciate each blow." Still nothing, she was starting to feel frantic. "Nothing hard enough to incapacitate, but enough to make you notice." The jab to her solar plexus left her struggling to breathe. It was followed by three quick blows down her arm. Her hand went numb. "The beauty of this, of course, is the mental anguish. We can go on for hours." There was a sudden flurry of hits from both sides, perspiration was pouring down her face.  
  
Jacobs stood and watched her for a moment, she was sweating and shaking, flinching at every noise. He stepped in close and spoke softly, watching her jump, "Don't worry about us killing you, Sarah." He paused, "I've found a buyer for you." She froze. He stepped back and signaled for the gag to be removed. "I think it's time for us to talk, Colonel."  
  
He waited while she worked her jaws. Then she turned her head to where she had last heard him, "You son of a bitch." That was followed by a grunt as she received a sharp jab to the kidneys.  
  
He laughed, "How very defiant of you. The Corps would be proud." She gasped at another shot to her injured arm. "I'm assuming the evidence is on a computer disk of some sort, a CD perhaps?" She yelped at a crack across a shin. "You didn't have anything with you, where is it hidden?" He shook his head and watched her tense, trying to anticipate the next blow. He let the silence drag out, watching her struggle with her fear, finally she spoke, "Go to hell." He nodded at the two men to continue their random attacks and stepped away.  
  
He was puzzled and a little worried. By now, most people were crying and ready to sell out their own mothers. She wasn't trained for this, MacKenzie should have broken by now. He could tell she was terrified. He didn't believe in superheros - that would leave... His eyes widened, he gestured Hanley over. "Are you sure you searched her thoroughly? There was no transmitter anywhere?"  
  
Hanley stared at him, "Of course we searched her. We didn't find anything."  
  
Jacobs thought for a moment, "Did you check the bandages?"  
  
"Bandages?" Hanley echoed.  
  
"You idiot!" Jacobs hurried back to the Colonel, signaling the men to stop. Mac gasped when a hand pulled her sweatshirt up and stifled a cry when the dressing was roughly yanked off her side. Jacobs and Hanley retreated to the side and gingerly examined the bloody material.  
  
Hanley looked up in relief, "See? Nothing."  
  
Jacobs wasn't satisfied, something wasn't right. "When was the last time you checked with the perimeter guards?"  
  
Hanley stared at him, "Five minutes ago, everything was quiet."  
  
"Contact them again."  
  
Jacobs watched while Hanley pulled out his handheld and spoke into it. Moments later, he looked at the Admiral wide-eyed, "Three of them aren't answering!"  
  
Jacobs felt a rage sweep through him, "That bitch! We've been set up!!" He grabbed a nightstick from one of the men and strode angrily towards Mac, arm swinging up. Before he left he was going to crack her head open like a melon. He stopped in front of her, arm upraised when a pair of gunshots rang out. He looked down at himself in amazement as blood started to spread across his chest, then he collapsed.  
  
Harm and AJ came out of the shadows, pistols still extended. They were flanked by Bud, Sturgis and Gunny Walters. Webb, James and Special Agent Novak led a contingent of DC cops and Federal agents approaching from the other side.  
  
Harm headed right for Mac while AJ stopped to check Jacobs. He carefully removed the blindfold, there was blood on the side of her face from the cut just under her eye. The cheek was already turning interesting colors. Mac squinted while her eyes adjusted, "Took you long enough."  
  
Harm smiled as he worked on the ropes, "We stopped for coffee." He looked up when Gunny Walters appeared holding a pocketknife. Together they made short work of the rest of the bindings.  
  
Mac drew a shuddering breath. Now that it was over, reaction was settling in. "Harm?" He looked at her, alerted by the tone of her voice. "Get me out of here."  
  
"Sure, can you walk?" When she shook her head, Harm glanced over at the Gunny. Together, they got her carefully out of the chair and into his arms. Harm made a face, "Have you thought about bathing lately?" That earned him a quiet 'Shut up.' He looked over at AJ, "I'm taking her outside, sir."  
  
AJ gave him a questioning look, Harm smiled reassuringly. "All right, Commander. The paramedics should be out there. Let them see her."  
  
As Harm wove his way past various law enforcement officers, he heard the ominous rumble of Gunny's voice. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Walters advancing on Corporal Hanley. He shook his head and kept walking. Harm stepped out into the afternoon sun and looked around. The paramedics were to the left, the CityWorks van he and James rode in, was to the right. He turned right. He had a pretty good idea of what was coming. The least he could do would be to give her some privacy.  
  
Sometime later, Harm sat with his arms still wrapped around Mac. She'd finally cried herself out, he figured it was probably the least destructive way she had of relieving the stress. He hadn't done much more than hang on and murmur soothing inanities. It seemed to be enough. He felt her shift. "Mac?" he inquired softly.  
  
"Yeah?" Mac turned a little and looked up at him.  
  
"You really need to let the paramedics look at you."  
  
"I know," she gave a weary sigh and looked at him again, "Thank you."  
  
Harm smiled, "Anytime. Do you think you can walk?"  
  
"I don't know. Guess I can give it a try."  
  
Harm stood first and helped her up. She wound up leaning heavily on him. "Well, that answers that question," he said as he scooped her up.  
  
"I'm sorry, you've been carrying me everywhere."  
  
"It's my job." He raised an eyebrow and gave her an innocent smile.  
  
She looked at him for a moment, then gave his chest a light slap. "Jerk." She pointed towards the door and said in her best Marine voice, "Move it, Mister."  
  
"Aye-aye, Ma'am."  
  
Five minutes later, she was in the hands of the paramedics. Harm hovered around the edges, when he heard his name called. Turning, he saw quite a group approaching: the Admiral, Bud, Sturgis, Gunny Walters, James and Clay. "How is she, Harm?"  
  
"I think she'll be fine, sir. I was waiting to hear from the paramedic."  
  
As if on cue, the young man walked up. He looked at everyone and blinked, then focused on Harm, "Commander? We're getting ready to transport, she looks okay but they'll probably want to keep her overnight as a precaution. GW is closest, unless you have a preference... "   
  
He took an involuntary step back as the group chorused, "BETHESDA!" 


	19. Part 19

Title: Sleight of Hand  
Author: Incatnito  
PG-13  
Action/Adventure  
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.  
  
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!  
  
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.  
  
---------  
  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
1645 Local  
  
Petty Officer Alice Greenton looked up to see Admiral Chegwidden standing at her desk. She jumped to her feet, coming to attention and said in surprise, "Admiral! I'm sorry, sir. I didn't hear you come in."  
  
"At ease, Petty Officer." AJ regarded her for a moment. She was a small, mousy type of woman. He had a hard time believing it, but Webb had been adamant.  
  
"Sir, is there something I can help you with?" she said nervously.  
  
"I'm afraid not." The Admiral watched her closely, "Corporal Hanley was arrested today by Federal agents." Surprise, fear and something else... anger?... washed across her face.  
  
"I'm sorry, sir?"  
  
"'Archangel', Petty Officer. Hanley and Admiral Jacobs abducted Col. MacKenzie this morning, but not before she had gotten us information about the network. Jacobs is dead, it's over." AJ made a small gesture, two Marines appeared in the doorway.  
  
He watched as her mouth opened and closed silently, then her face took on such a look of malevolence, he had to force himself not to step back. "Then I hope to hell they killed that Arab bitch first!" she hissed and then gave a mocking laugh, "You may think this is over, but it's not. There's more of us than you can possibly imagine!"  
  
AJ was taken aback, but he matched her glare for glare. "It is over for you." He glanced at the Marines, "Gentlemen." He watched as she was cuffed and led away. He felt a little shaken. His private scenario had been the petty officer as a dupe of Corporal Hanley, possibly in love with him. He hadn't expected this.  
  
Bethesda Naval Hospital  
1920 Local  
  
Mac struggled to free herself, staring anxiously at the door. They were coming. She could hear them getting closer. Her efforts grew more frantic as she grew more panic-stricken. She had to get away, she couldn't let them find her. Mac's eyes flew open. There was a figure leaning over her. She shrank back against the pillows, her breath coming in ragged gasps.  
  
"Mac? Sarah? It's all right... you're safe... C'mon Mac, it was just a bad dream. You're okay." Harm said in a soothing tone, while watching her anxiously. She'd been sleeping peacefully up until about five minutes ago. He watched her blink rapidly, trying to bring him into focus. He gave her a smile when he saw recognition begin to dawn.  
  
"Harm?" Her glance flew about the room. She was in a hospital... again? Everything was jumbled. "Where... ?"  
  
"You're at Bethesda." Harm carefully settled on the side of the bed and took her hand in both of his, he didn't want to startle her. Her breathing was returning to normal. "The docs say you'll be fine. You just need to rest."  
  
Bethesda? Hadn't she been at George Washington? She felt confused, how much of what she remembered was a dream... ?  
  
Harm squeezed her hand reassuringly. "It's all over, Mac. Archangel is broken, Admiral Jacobs is dead."   
  
"Jacobs is dead?"  
  
"He was going to kill you. The Admiral and I shot him before he could." Harm remembered that terror-filled moment when he first saw Jacobs and realized what he was about to do. He'd fired immediately, it never occurred to him to yell at Jacobs to stop. Apparently, AJ had felt the same. Both rounds had hit Jacobs almost simultaneously.  
  
Kill her? ... that wasn't right. She said faintly, "He told he wouldn't kill me, said he'd found a buyer."  
  
Harm stared at her horrified. That son of a bitch! If he'd known that, he would've emptied his clip into the bastard. He took a calming breath. "Well, he can't hurt you now. It's all over," he repeated. He watched the emotions flit across her face as she sorted through her memories. Damn, she was going to have nightmares for months. He knew he was going to have a few himself. Starting with... he cleared his throat. Mac looked at him.  
  
"Mac, I'm sorry." He looked down at the floor, "I was supposed to be protecting you and I let them grab you."  
  
"Harm." Mac waited until he looked up, "That was what was supposed to happen. I knew you and Clay and the others would be coming. I just had to hang on 'til then." She managed to, too, even if it was by a fingernail. Mac gave an involuntary shudder.  
  
Harm couldn't stand it, he reached forward and carefully gathered her into his arms. She tensed for a second and then relaxed against him, burying her head against his chest. He held her lightly, mindful of the bruises, resting his chin on the top of her head. He didn't know what he would have done if he hadn't gotten there in time, if she hadn't survived. He heaved a small sigh. She shifted against him and he heard her say quietly, "It's okay, Harm. It didn't happen." They knew each other so well...   
  
Clay quietly opened the door and looked in. He stood and watched for a moment, he didn't want to interrupt. Maybe Rabb was finally going to get off the dime... . On the other hand, he'd gotten here a little ahead of the rest, they were on their way up. Harm and Mac would probably appreciate a little warning. He cleared his throat - loudly - and walked into the room. The two broke apart far enough to watch him enter.  
  
"Clay!" Mac smiled at him and held out a hand. He took it and she pulled him in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."  
  
He flushed slightly and grinned at her, carefully not looking at Rabb. "You're welcome. You know there's no one's six I'd rather save." Mac raised an eyebrow and then laughed. Webb noticed she rested a casual hand on Harm's forearm. He decided to quit while he was ahead. "The others are right behind me. They should be here... " He stopped as the door opened again.  
  
Bud, Harriet, Sturgis and Bobbie Latham walked into the room. Harm had started to rise as they entered but Mac had increased the pressure on his arm, so he stayed put. He listened as they exchanged pleasantries and smiled as Harriet fretted over Mac's latest round of bumps and bruises. Any crisis involving a friend brought her mothering instincts out full force.  
  
Bobbie stood a little back from the group and watched the interaction. By unspoken agreement, the conversation was kept light and joking, even as they filled in details of the story for each other. She wasn't sure if she should be here, but Sturgis had asked. She was more an acquaintance than a friend with Mac although she thought the pendulum was beginning to shift. Her relationship with Sturgis was doing that. The two women already shared a mutual admiration and respect for each other's accomplishments. Their disagreements had never become acrimonious, a fact Bobbie appreciated.  
  
Clay appeared next to her, "Feeling a little out of place, Congresswoman?"  
  
"Just a little." She smiled at Sturgis when he glanced back to see where she was. Seeing her talking to Clay, he returned his attention to the group. "I don't know Mac as well as the others do. Frankly, I'm amazed she survived the whole thing." Bobbie gestured towards the group, "They're like family, aren't they?"  
  
"Yes." They both turned when they heard the door open. Admiral Chegwidden walked into the room. "And here comes Poppa Bear." Clay said softly. He caught the Admiral's eye and gave him a questioning look. AJ nodded once and continued to Mac's bedside, greeting the others as he went.  
  
"Colonel, you're looking better." AJ smiled at her.  
  
"Thank you sir, I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate... "  
  
AJ held up a hand, cutting her off. "Nonsense, Colonel. You know how it is with SEALs and Marines, we never abandon one of our own." He tried to keep his tone gruff without much success.  
  
"Excuse me, sir." Everyone looked over at Harriet, who continued, "The curiousity is killing me, how did you find the Colonel so quickly after they grabbed her?"  
  
Mac and AJ both looked at Webb. Clay sighed and stepped forward, "We never actually lost her. It just took a little while to get everyone in position once she stopped moving." He looked at Mac, "Where are the running shoes?"  
  
"In the closet, in a plastic bag," Harm said. "They're a little... uhh... ripe."  
  
Everyone watched while he went to the closet and retrieved the bag. He opened it and then shut it quickly, his eyes were watering. Clay looked over at Mac and arched an eyebrow, "This was government property, you know."  
  
Mac raised both eyebrows, "So bill me." They grinned at each other remembering the last time they had that conversation.  
  
AJ cleared his throat, "Webb... "  
  
"Right," Webb looked at the group. "There's a GPS transmitter embedded in the sole of each shoe. I was up in a chopper following the coordinates." He shrugged, "Simple, really."  
  
AJ snorted softly, 'Simple.' Except that in typical Webb fashion, he hadn't told anyone (except Mac) until the last possible moment. Even then, Clay had only told him. That nose-breaking a few years ago had done wonders for their relationship. Webb was a lot more upfront about dispersing information. AJ caught Mac stifling a yawn out of the corner of his eye. "All right, everyone. I think that's enough for one day. Let's let the Colonel get some rest." He looked over at her, "They're releasing you tomorrow morning?"  
  
"Yes sir, 0900. Harm's going to give me a ride home."  
  
"Very well." AJ continued to shoo people towards the door. He looked back, Harm was still sitting on the bed. "Colonel, I don't want to see you at JAG until Monday 0900 at the earliest, understood?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
With that, the Admiral left. Harm looked over at Mac, "Do you want me to stay a little longer?" He didn't want to leave her alone to her nightmares. In all honesty, he didn't want to leave - period.  
  
"Would you?" As tired as she was, Mac was a little afraid to fall asleep. The nightmares had been so vivid.  
  
"No problem," Harm grinned. He helped get her situated, then pulled around a chair and settled down to keep watch.  
  
Monday  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church  
0855 Local   
  
Harm glanced over at Mac as he pulled into a parking spot. She'd gotten more and more quiet as they got closer to JAG. She looked over at him and he gave her a reassuring smile. Last time she was here, someone had tried to kill her and then she'd been falsely accused of espionage and treason. He didn't blame her for feeling nervous.   
  
From the time he had taken her home from Bethesda, Harm had spent as much time as possible with Mac. He'd offered to stay at night but she had shooed him home telling him he couldn't stay awake 24/7 and she needed some privacy. He compromised by having dinner with her every night, staying afterward to talk or watch movies until she threw him out. He kept her apprised of the ongoing roundup of Archangel X-men, she told him about the steady stream of visitors: James, Emma, Harriet and little AJ, even Clayton Webb. She was still having nightmares, but (for once), she managed to talk about them; sometimes with him, often with Emma. On Saturday, he'd shown up on her doorstep bright and early, picnic basket in hand. They'd had a wonderful day, cruising the Maryland countryside. Eventually, they wound up on the Eastern Shore, enjoying steamed crabs at a restaurant on the pier of a deep-water port. He'd even got Mac to agree to another outing next Saturday. This time they'd explore the Virginia side... Harm became aware that Mac was speaking to him. He looked over and saw her smiling at him.  
  
"Planning to get out of the car, Sailor? We've got 2 minutes and 18 seconds to report in."  
  
'Oops.' He grabbed his briefcase and together they walked into the building.  
  
Mac bounced on her heels as the elevator went up to the Ops floor. She wasn't quite sure what to expect. It seemed like a lifetime since she was last here. She glanced at Harm, he smiled at her. The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Mac steeled herself and marched out. When she reached the bullpen, she heard 'Attention on deck!' All her friends and co-workers were standing at attention, facing her. In the middle was a large cake and on the wall, a hand-lettered banner read, 'Semper Fi, Colonel!' She looked back at the broad smile on Harm's face, he was also at attention. It was good to be home. 


End file.
